Eurovision 2024: Everything you need to know

This year, Eurovision will beryllium held successful Malmo, Sweden, and already fans are descending connected nan country’s third-largest city, decked retired successful sequins, glitter, skin-tight metallics aliases neon, immoderate of them pinch their country’s flags painted connected their faces aliases draped astir their shoulders. 

For fans, it’s a yearlong buildup to this weeklong party. For viewers crossed Europe and astir nan world, nan title will beryllium shown complete 3 days adjacent week.

Artists from 37 countries crossed Europe and beyond will execute original songs — ranging from soaring powerfulness ballads to nan bombastically ridiculous — to compete for nan public’s vote, earlier a victor is chosen successful a high-drama Grand Final. 

The glittery, pyrotechnic-filled spectacle draws successful astir 160 cardinal viewers, making it nan world’s most-watched non-sports arena — surpassed only by nan Olympics and nan World Cup.

In fact, Eurovision is often likened to nan Olympics of popular music. Paul Jordan, a superfan who wrote his PhD connected nan contest: “they’ve sewage nan spectacle of nan opening ceremony. You’ve sewage nan play of nan podium.”

“If you haven’t seen it, aliases heard of it, you’re astir apt surviving successful a sad world,” Silvester Belt, this year’s entrant from Lithuania, told NBC News. “It’s nan funniest and astir awkward cringiest and nosy arena successful nan world. I don’t deliberation there’s thing like [it].” 

Malmo, Sweden, is preparing for Euro-pop's biggest spectacle. For fans, it’s a yearlong buildup to this weeklong party.Johan Nilsson / AFP - Getty Images

The first Eurovision was successful 1956. Seven countries participated successful what was fundamentally a method research — nationalist broadcasting organizations of nan early TV era wanted to cognize if they could propulsion disconnected a live, simultaneous, transnational broadcast. The show’s format was copied from a celebrated Italian opus title called San Remo, and evolved from there.

Eurovision proved to beryllium a success, some technologically and culturally. Seven decades later, Eurovision is much beloved than ever, moving beyond TV to spawn a immense ecosystem of superfan blogs and social media accounts breathlessly covering its each development.  

Today, Eurovision features astir of Europe and immoderate countries farther afield for illustration Israel, Azerbaijan, and Australia.

When is it? 

First semifinal: Tuesday, May 7, astatine 3 p.m. Eastern.

Second semifinal: Thursday, May 9, astatine 3 p.m. Eastern.

Grand final: Saturday, May 11, astatine 3 p.m. Eastern.

In nan U.S., nan shows are disposable to watch connected Peacock.

How does it work?

Eurovision is divided into 2 semifinals and a Grand Final. 15 countries execute their opus successful nan first semifinal, and 16 successful nan second. After each semifinal, viewers astatine location ballot for their favorites, and nan apical 10 from each are put done to nan Grand Final. 

In total, location are 26 performances successful nan Grand Final: nan winners of nan semi-finals, positive nan big state (this year, Sweden) and a group called nan Big Five — France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and nan UK — who participate nan last automatically because their countries make nan biggest financial contributions to Eurovision. 

The victor of nan Grand Final is decided by a operation of a celebrated ballot from viewers, and an charismatic Eurovision jury. 

Each creator only performs 1 opus passim nan contest. The songs tin beryllium successful immoderate language, but are constricted to 3 minutes. Lead vocals must beryllium performed unrecorded and location cannot beryllium much than  six group connected shape during nan performance.

How to vote 

Viewers astatine location tin ballot by phone, text, aliases via nan charismatic Eurovision app. 

Voters from countries participating successful nan title can’t ballot for their ain act, but moreover fans from places that don’t return portion successful Eurovision tin person their say. Voting successful nan app aliases connected a website, viewers from astir nan world dress up a “rest of nan world” state that equals 1 participating nation. Once Eurovision is up and running, this website will go progressive and let viewers extracurricular nan Eurovision nations to vote: www.esc.vote

The Eurovision shape successful Malmo, wherever 37 artists will compete for nan glory of winning nan iconic contest.Johan Nilsson / AP

For nan final, viewers ballot for their favourite retired of nan 26 remaining contestants, and nan celebrated ballot is mixed pinch nan votes from juries of euphony manufacture professionals from each participating country.  

Presenters, hamming up nan anticipation successful a drawn-out process, denote nan juries’ votes state by country, creating  hostility arsenic a fewer acts return nan lead.

Then nan existent play originates pinch nan uncover of nan celebrated vote. As nan celebrated ballot is publication retired nan leaderboard tin plaything dramatically. In caller years nan assemblage and nan nationalist voted for different winners, meaning nan enactment successful nan lead aft nan assemblage ballot is successful nary measurement guaranteed to enactment connected apical erstwhile nan nationalist has their say.

The victor is presented pinch a trophy and overmuch glory for having won Eurovision. The state they correspond will big nan adjacent year’s contest. 

A assortment of styles

Part of nan joyousness of Eurovision is nan sheer scope of songs, often making for unusual bedfellows pinch discordant philharmonic styles performing backmost to back.

“Every azygous personification connected world tin find thing successful Eurovision,” Belt, nan Lithuanian singer, said.

Bambie Thug, this year’s introduction from Ireland, calls their goth-inflected opus “Ouija-pop.” Their introduction “Doomsday Blue” alternates betwixt frantic growling and screaming and laid backmost singing successful nan chorus.  

Denmark’s Saba shows disconnected her powerful vocals successful “Sand,” a classical break-up ballad. The Czech entry, Aiko, sounds for illustration her philharmonic style was inspired by American pop-rock, while Austria’s introduction is simply a Europop creation anthem that eschews subtlety pinch its title “We Will Rave.”

And past location are nan off-the-wall entries that Eurovision is possibly champion known for, featuring inexplicable philharmonic styling and staging. 

Iconic performances of past decades person included a group of Russian babushkas, a Finnish dense metallic set dressed arsenic monsters, and a bearded Austrian resistance queen singing what could person been a James Bond taxable song.

“I deliberation that nan mostly is successful it to triumph it,” Eurovision co-host Petra Mede said, but immoderate countries focus little connected sending a beardown singer, and much connected a memorable capacity that will person group talking, providing a “spectacular introduction and they cognize that they’re not going to win, but they’re going to springiness america a bully 3 minutes.” 

“I deliberation there’s a mates of quirky ones,” Paul Jordan, nan superfan who wrote a PhD connected Eurovision, said, inspired by past year’s runner up, a chaotic capacity called “Cha Cha Cha” by Finland’s Käärijä, who leapt astir nan shape successful a puffy neon greenish outfit shouting “cha cha cha” betwixt precocious energy, lyrics successful Finnish astir hitting nan creation level aft a agelong week astatine work.  

“I deliberation there’s a fewer that person tried to emulate that success,” Jordan said.

He says, “Europapa” by nan Netherland’s Joost is 1 to watch. “It’s insanely catchy. It’s gone viral online. I tin ideate group astir Europe will beryllium voting for that, they’ll beryllium having parties, they’ll beryllium loving it.” 

Joost performs successful a bluish suit pinch exaggerated pointy enarthrosis pads, pinch backup dancers that see a personification successful a vertebrate costume wearing an EU-logo tie.

“Rim Tim Tagi Dim,” by Croatia’s Baby Lasagne, is besides drafting attention. The high-energy opus astir leaving nan countryside for metropolis life, is simply a buzzy measurement of putting a spotlight connected nan rumor of Croatia’s encephalon drain.

Favorites to win

Winners of nan title travel from each complete nan philharmonic spectrum. In nan past decade, successful genres person included popular from Sweden, jazz from Portugal, and stone from Italy.

Jordan says that dissimilar erstwhile years wherever location were dense favorites, “it seems to beryllium really unfastened this year. There doesn’t look to beryllium a runaway winner.”

Some to watch see Switzerland’s “The Code” by Nemo, which is astir nan singer’s travel of discovering their nonbinary identity, and Italy’s Angelina Mango. Her entry, “La Noia,” which translates to “the boredom,” is inspired by nan cumbia euphony of Latin America.

The quirky Dutch and Croatian entries are besides apt to beryllium favorites pinch viewers astatine home, pinch splashy performances that tin thief them guidelines retired successful nan crowded field. 

The nationalist and nan juries often diverge connected who they deliberation should win, pinch votes from nan assemblage tending to reward philharmonic prowess while votes from nan nationalist often swayed by spectacle. 

Jordan says that Ukraine “can ne'er really beryllium discounted. They cognize really to shape a song,” and are nan only state presently successful nan title who person ever gone done to nan last from nan semis. Ukraine has won Eurovision 3 times since it joined nan title successful 2003, and nan Ukrainian introduction usually finishes successful nan apical ten.

Legendary popular singers person emerged from nan Eurovision gauntlet: Fifty years ago, then-little known Swedish set ABBA won pinch “Waterloo,” a opus that has since entered nan ranks of popular classics. In 1988, a young Celine Dion was launched into fame erstwhile she won for Switzerland pinch nan song, “Ne partez pas sans moi.”  

Regardless of whether this year’s artists will beryllium nan adjacent ABBA, Jordan says Eurovision will endure, “it’s a format that’s truthful aged now — astir 70 years old, and yet it’s still surviving. And that’s amazing. Really, fixed each nan changes successful people’s viewing habits, Eurovision has really captured our imagination.”