An American's Guide To Eurovision!

I'll get into what Eurovision is very soon, but  I think a good place to start is to simply watch a performance and get a taste for what it's all about! - for that, I recommend this performance. The song is called ''Heroes'' by Mans Zelmerlow! This is Sweden's winning entry from 2015. This is always the entry I show to newbies to the contest - it showcases what the contest is at it's core, in my opinion. You'll notice that it's not just the song that's important, but the performance and staging is a massive part to it also!

The contest is held every year in May, and is a one week long event with two semi-finals as well as one Grand Final. The contest is hosted by the country that won the previous year. Last year, Sweden won, so that's why Sweden is hosting this year! If a country is unable to host such as Ukraine in 2022, they will then host it with another.

In contrast to song competitions such as The Voice or The X Factor, every single song at Eurovision has to be original, and cannot be released before September 1st of the previous year, and no song can be any longer than three minutes, and all songs are performed live on stage. And then, every participating country will then submit a song to Eurovision!

Some countries will do an internal selection process which can be as simple as selecting someone to represent them to Eurovision. Other countries will end up doing their own song contest, and the winner of that contest will go on to represent that country at Eurovision,

One reason is that it's one of the most watched broadcasted events in the world (besides sporting events). Last year, it was reported that 162 million people were watching in 2023.

And with the first contest taking place in 1956, it is also one of the longest lasting television programs that is still going.

And it is also a fascinating (and bizarre!) piece of culture. Don't worry - I'll discuss the bizzare part soon!

There's really a wide range of genres in the contest! - I'll list some genres with hyperlinks for you to watch some performances if you're interested! - you may only end up listening to a minute or so, but this section is really to show you that no matter the year, there is bound to be something to appeal to your tastes!

Genres can include... pop, hardcore, folk, ballad, country, rap, yodelling, opera and traditional!

In the interest of not making this blog longer than it already is, I am just going to talk about this in the simplest way possible.

Selection Process - I touched on it a little bit in the intro, but every country will submit a song and artist to represent them, and the method used to select their entry varies between countries. Some countries will do their own National Final selection, the most famous example is Sweden's Melodifestivalen, or just Melfest. These selections can vary wildly between countries - there can be 100 entries, which are narrowed down within a period of a few weeks, or as simple as a 4-8 song selection that is chosen within one night. Not only that, but these selections often have their own rules and nuances that don't follow the contest itself, and some songs in these selections would even break rules at Eurovision - Italy is famous for this, as songs at their selection can go way beyond the three minute song limit, and have to be shortened down to three minutes for the contest.

Other countries just don't have the money or don't care too much and simply just choose an artist internally, and send their artist and song that way.

Other countries have their own rules, as well as the ones present in the contest. As an example, France requires that song has to be at least 60% in French, or other countries allow artists that aren't even from their country, such as Switzerland who managed to win with Celine Dion in 1988, despite her being from Canada.

Other rules include...

No more than six people on stage, contestants have to be at least 16 years old before their semi-final performance, vocals have to be sung live, but as of the 2021 contest, there is some wiggle room allowed in a backing track, but outside that all vocals have to be live,

I am putting Eurovision Week in quotes here as it's more two weeks these days.

In the first week, artists will arrive in the host city, meet with other artists and partake in dress rehersals on the Eurovision stage.

Then, in the second week, there are two semi finals, the reason for that is because with a contest of 37 songs this year, it would make for a very long broadcast. These semi finals are held on a Tuesday and Thursday, and the top 10 from each semi, as well as the big 5 (France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the UK) and the host country (in this year's case, Sweden) perform on Saturday's grand final. These semi final results are determined entirely by televoting (so, the people watching at home). In the grand final, voting is half from a professional jury who ''know music'' and the other half comes from viewers at home. The juries award points to their top 10 from 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point(s). The televotes are tallied by country and awarded in a similar fashion. No country can vote for their own country. And since the 2023 contest, it is now possible to vote even if you aren't from a participating country - these ''rest of the world votes'' are organized as one country, if you willl.

And for the first time this year, voting will be open 24 hours before the two semis and the Grand Final to accomodate the ''rest of the world'' voters in different timezones.

The Grand Final is really what most people care about. The Grand Final is approximately four hours in length.

In the first 10-20 minutes, you will be introduced to all competing countries, the hosts, and a quick explanation of how voting works for first time viewers (and for the first time this year), voting will be opened (this is traditionally done at the end of the show). Then, the show begins!

All countries will perform in a pre-selected order, and for the most part, the contest is commercial free, though between roughly every nine or so songs, there's a 1-2 minute interval to interview contestants who have already performed and audience members. Some countries will show commercials during these.

Traditionally, after all acts have performed, the voting will begin. The voting is typically open for an hour. And during that time, there are brief recaps of the performances, some guest performances which can include the winner of the previous year doing an encore performance/new song. After all that is said and done, the results are revealed!

The juries show their votes first, then the televotes are revealed in a last-first order and then the winner is declared, the winner then gives a speech, the trophy is presented to the winner and then they do an encore performance.

Believe it or not, there are some songs that have gone on to be hits outside the contest, and you may have heard some without realising it! Like with the genre segment, I'll list these with hyperlinks and you can take a listen and see how many you know!

Gina G - Ooh Aah...Just A Little Bit

Duncan Laurence - Arcade

Getter Jaani - Rockefeller Street

Rosa Linn - Snap

Kaarija - Cha Cha Cha

ABBA - Waterloo

And I didn't even mention Flo Rida competing in the 2021 contest!

And it isn't just songs! Sometimes the interval acts have caught on as well such as Justin Timberlake in the 2016 contest or Riverdance!

The contest has it's origins in the aftermath of World War II, where Europe wanted ways to unite themselves after the war. Whilst a lot of this included things such as organizations such as the European Union, it also included a song contest. It has been going since 1956 with 67 song contests, with 2024 being the 68th contest (unfortunately, 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). 

The first Eurovision was quite different - with only seven countries competing, each sending two songs, with only a single camerman, and the contest was primarily a radio show at this time, whilst also being broadcasted on television for the few Europeans who had a television set at the time. Since then, over 1,000 songs have been performed from 52 countries - including some non-European countries such as Israel, Australia and Morocco. The expansion of the contest is exactly why there are two semis - the contest would be like eight hours long and it would be draining to say the least.

You're probably asking yourself ''how are these countries allowed in Eurovision?''. To put it simply, you don't need to geographically be in Europe - instead, you need to be part of the European Broadcasting Union (or the EBU for short), and this is extended to some other non-European countries. Australia is a special case though, as Australia are such huge fans of the contest (despite waking up at 5AM to watch!) they were invited as guests for the 60th anniversary in 2015, everyone loved them and Australia went on to do really well and have been at Eurovision since, and I personally don't see them going anytime soon!

If you watched ABBA's performance at Eurovision, that I showcased earlier, you may have noticed a few differences - namely, there being a live orchestra. Which is no longer allowed to be done, but at the time it was required - each country even had their own conductor, hense why the ABBA one was dressed as Napoleon! but now you are required to have it all in the backing track. But it's still all sung live, which is really one of the few rules that has remained constant since the start.

Besides the orchestra thing, one rule that's changed is that you had to sing in your national language. Whilst it changed for a brief period in the 70s (hense ABBA singing in English), it would be removed for good in the 1999 contest due to the UK, Ireland and Malta all receiving consistent Top 10 results, and the EBU felt as though these countries had an unfair advantage of being able to sing in English. Since then, any and all languages are allowed! Feel free to check this quiz I made about all the languages used at Eurovision! Whilst most countries sing in English, as the most people understand it, and it has the most broad appeal. Other countries have entered songs in languages that they literally made up.

Not all Eurovision songs are created equal. Some countries will take the contest super seriously (such as Sweden), and others don't (Moldova is a great example). It's especially in the mid 2000s where many of the ''WTF'' acts happened, but there are often a few each year.

Some of my favourites include...Grannies baking bread, the sparkly teletubby, rapping turkeys, a song about eating veggies, some dude in an Elvis wig, a song about how hate will prevail, gay opera singing vampires, and whatever this song is meant to be about.

You've read this blog up until now, you've checked out some performances so you may now be wondering about how you can watch it for yourself! There are a few ways to do so!

If you're from one of the participating countries, it's as simple as tuning into the broadcasting channel that's participating for example, UK viewers can tune into BBC 1 or Australian viewers can tune into SBS (not that for Australians, there is a broadcast later in the day on Sunday if you don't want to wake up at 3-5AM!). And if you tune into these broadcasts, you'll often find some commentary, the United Kingdom famously having amazing commentary from Graham Norton, and oftentimes, watching along with him can be a lot of fun!

To those who do not live in Europe, don't worry! There are still options for you!

For those in the United States, and have a subscription to Peacock, then you can watch the contest on there!

You may also watch on the official Eurovision YouTube page, but for those in the United States and other countries, you may need a VPN to watch.

If you do not have a VPN, then my recommendation is to watch the contest on the SVT Play, they broadcast it everywhere and in very nice quality and you won't need a VPN either. This is what I did for years when I did not have a VPN!

The broadcast for the final begins on Saturday, May 11th at 9PM CEST! And if you're interested in viewing the semi finals also, then Semi Final 1 is on May 7th at 9PM CEST and Semi Final 2 is on May 9th at 9PM CEST! (you can convert these times to your local time!)

If you're like me, then you'll have a fun gathering with a few friends/family, with everyone picking a country to support - for example, last year I was a heavy supporter of the Croatian entry and was super happy when it qualified to the final! And you're definitely going to want to bring some snacks!

But really, you can celebrate it in any way you so choose!

Before I go, i'll drop a couple playlists for both Spotify and YouTube!

Eurovision 2024 playlist (YouTube)

One Song Per Country (YouTube)

There you have it! I hope you enjoyed this blog, and I also hope you'll take some time to listen to the playlists I provided! See you in Malmo!