SVT have announced they will be introducing some changes to the shows in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest. The Big Five and Sweden will now perform live in the semi-finals and there will be an extended voting opportunity in the Grand Final.
Big Five in the Semi-Finals
In previous years, the songs from the Big Five (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) and host country have been presented in the semi-finals as clips from their rehearsals. This was introduced to give the songs exposure ahead of the Grand Final.
Now viewers will see these songs performed live for the first time during the semi-final shows. The additional performances will be placed amongst the running order on the night instead of being presented after all the songs have performed.
Three performances will take place in each semi-final. The Big Five and Sweden will be performing on the same night that they have been drawn to vote in, in a draw that took place back in January:
First Semi-Final:
🇩🇪 Germany
🇸🇪 Sweden
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Second Semi-Final:
🇫🇷 France
🇮🇹 Italy
🇪🇸 Spain
“We think that this change gives the Big Five countries and the host country a fairer playing field in the Grand Final, as they now have the opportunity to perform “for real” on stage in the Semi-Finals. It is also a win for both the audience in the arena and the viewers at home, in that they get to see all the acts competing this year live before the Grand Final.”
Ebba Adielsson, Executive Producer of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024
“Finally we get to see Europe’s largest countries and the hosts perform their songs in full in the Semi-Finals, meaning there’s even more entertainment for fans and viewers and, like all the qualifiers, the Big 5 and host country now get to perform their songs live twice on the Eurovision stage.”
Martin Österdahl, the Contest’s Executive Supervisor
Voting extension in the Grand Final
The next change comes in the Grand Final. Instead of waiting for all the songs to perform before voting begins, viewers will be able to vote just before the first song has performed. Additionally the Rest of The World vote will now open immediately after the second dress rehearsal for each Semi-Final and Grand Final has finished the previous night, and will stay open until the live shows begin.
“Voting in the final has previously opened when all 26 entries have finished singing. Instead, we want to provide the opportunity to engage the viewers from the start – if you see something you like, you should be able to vote immediately. You can also, of course, wait until the recap at the end, as in previous years.
SVT has positive experience with this voting procedure in ‘Melodifestivalen’ (Sweden’s national final). In addition, there are viewers in other parts of the world who want to vote and we want to give them a better opportunity to participate in the result. Now they don’t have to set an alarm clock in the middle of the night.”
Executive Producer Ebba Adielsson
