WELCOME EUROPE!
EBU and SVT are more than happy to welcome you all to the very first Semi Final of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest, live from Malmö, Sweden. It is the third time Malmö is hosting the contest after the 1992 and 2013 editions.
«United by Music», the slogan of the 2023 contest, is being used this year too and will remain for future editions as well, as EBU announced on November 2023. Malin Akerman and Petra Mede will be the presenters of the show. Swedish-American actress, producer and model and Swedish comedian and television host promised to be the best hosts of the show in the history of the contest. This is the first time for Malin. Mede had previously hosted both the 2013 and 2016 editions as well as the 2015 special anniversary programme “Eurovision Song Contest’s Greatest Hits” alongside Graham Norton.
Malmö Arena is the selected venue. It is a max 15.500 seat multi-purpose indoor arena, the second largest one in Sweden, after Ericsson Globe in Stockholm. This is the second time Malmö Arena is hosting the show as it has previously hosted the 2013 contest.
Details of the show
2024 marks the 50th anniversary of ABBA’s victory in the Eurovision Song Contest. It was back in 1974, in Brighton, when Sweden won for the very first time. So, the today’s show will start with a special throwback in 1974 but the sequel will be more… fresh! Three Eurovision superstars will complete the opening act of the Semi Final 1. Eric Saade (Sweden 2011), Chanel (Spain 2022) and Eleni Foureira (Cyprus 2018) will perform their respective competing entries. As interval acts the show will feature 2018 Swedish entrant Benjamin Ingrosso performing a medley of his songs and three-time winner for Ireland Johnny Logan.
The entries
Fifteen countries are taking part in the Semi Final 1. The running order (R/O) has been determined by the contest producers and was announced in March. In addition to the competing entries, the United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden will perform their entries during the show, appearing on stage after the entries from Ireland, Iceland, and Moldova, respectively.
In running order, the fifteen countries of the Semi Final 1 of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 are:
| R/O | Country | Song | Artist |
| 01 | Cyprus | Liar | Silia Kapsis |
| 02 | Serbia | Ramonda | Teya Dora |
| 03 | Lithuania | Luktelk | Silvester Belt |
| 04 | Ireland | Doomsday Blue | Bambie Thug |
| 05 | Ukraine | Teresa & Maria | alyona alyona & Jerry Heil |
| 06 | Poland | Tower | Luna |
| 07 | Croatian | Rim Tim Tagi Dim | Baby Lasagna |
| 08 | Iceland | Scared of Heights | Hera Björk |
| 09 | Slovenia | Veronika | Raven |
| 10 | Finland | No Rules | Windows95man |
| 11 | Moldova | In The Middle | Natalia Barbu |
| 12 | Azerbaijan | Özünlä Apar | FAHREE feat. Ilkin Dovlatov |
| 13 | Australia | One Milkali (One Blood) | Electric Fields |
| 14 | Portugal | Grito | Yolanda |
| 15 | Luxembourg | Fighter | TALI |
Voting system / Results
No changes since last year’s voting system will take place as EBU stated. So, in both semi-finals only the televote will decide which songs will receive points, though juries will be used as a back-up plan. In the final, juries and televote will award an independent set of points. In all three shows, online votes from viewers in non-participating countries will be awarded as one set of points named “Rest of the World”.
The fifteen competing countries, plus Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom, as well as non-participating countries under an aggregated “Rest of the World” vote, will vote in this semi-final.
Ten countries will manage to qualify to the Grand Final. The announcement of those countries will take place just before the closing of the show. The full detailed results of both semi finals though will be published after the Grand Final of the contest.
How can I watch tonight’s semi-final?
You can watch the Semi Final 1 online on the Eurovision’s official YouTube channel or by selecting the national broadcaster of your country on TV.
Print and… vote!
Are you planning to watch the Semi Final alone or with friends or family? No matter what, you can print our scoreboards, write down your notes on it and guess the ten qualifiers.
Do not forget to share your score at the end of the show! It is fun, isn’t it?
You can find our scoreboard HERE!
Stay tuned to OGAE Greece for the results!
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