Eurovision Song Contest 2024

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 was the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It consisted of two semi-finals on 7 and 9 May and a final on 11 May 2024, held at the Malmö Arena in Malmö, Sweden, and presented by Petra Mede and Malin Åkerman. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT), which staged the event after winning the 2023 contest for Sweden with the song "Tattoo" by Loreen. Mede had previously presented the 2013 and 2016 contests.

Broadcasters from thirty-seven countries participated in the contest, the same number as in 2023. Romania opted not to participate, and Luxembourg competed for the first time since 1993. The Netherlands was disqualified from the contest between the second semi-final and the final, but the country retained its right to vote. The inclusion of Israel among the participants in the context of the Gaza war was met with controversy, and additional security measures were put in place for the event.

The winner was Switzerland with the song "The Code", performed by Nemo who wrote it with Benjamin Alasu, Lasse Midtsian Nymann, and Linda Dale. Switzerland won the combined vote and jury vote, and placed fifth in the televote. Croatia won the televote and finished in second place, its best result to date as an independent country, having previously won in 1989 as a part of Yugoslavia. Ukraine, France, and Israel completed the top five.

The EBU reported that the contest had a television audience of 163 million viewers in 37 European markets, an increase of a million viewers from the previous edition, with an additional 7.3 million viewers online on YouTube.

Location

The 2024 contest took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the 2023 contest with the song "Tattoo", performed by Loreen. It was the seventh time Sweden had hosted the contest, having previously done so in 1975, 1985, 1992, 2000, 2013, and 2016. The venue for the contest was the 15,500-seat Malmö Arena, which had previously hosted the contest in 2013.

The Malmö Live event centre hosted several events related to the contest. It was the venue for the "Turquoise Carpet" event on 5 May 2024, where the contestants and their delegations were presented before accredited press and fans, and the opening and closing ceremonies. The venue also hosted screenings of the live shows, and was the location of the EuroClub, which hosted the official after-parties and private performances by contest participants.

A Eurovision Village was created in Folkets Park. It hosted performances by contest participants and local artists, as well as screenings of the live shows for the general public. A "Eurovision Street" was established on Friisgatan, stretching from Triangeln station to the Eurovision Village in Folkets Park. Planned street music performances were affected by the withdrawal of several artists due to Israel's participation in the contest and were ultimately transferred to the Eurovision Village for security reasons. The Euro Fan Café was located at Amiralen.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of ABBA's victory at the contest in 1974 with "Waterloo", which was also Sweden's first win, a special ABBA World exhibition was held at Södergatan between 29 April and 12 May 2024.

Bidding phase

After Sweden's win in the 2023 contest, the municipalities of Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Eskilstuna, Jönköping, Örnsköldsvik, Partille and Sandviken expressed interest in hosting the 2024 edition. Host broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) set a deadline of 12 June 2023 for interested cities to formally apply. By 13 June, it had received bids from Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, and Örnsköldsvik. On 7 July, Gothenburg and Örnsköldsvik's bids were eliminated. Later that day, the EBU and SVT announced Malmö as the host city.

Key:
 †  Host city  *  Shortlisted  ^  Submitted a bid

Participants

Eligibility for participation in the Eurovision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with an active EBU membership capable of receiving the contest via the Eurovision network and broadcasting it live nationwide. The EBU issues invitations to participate in the contest to all active members.

On 5 December 2023, the EBU announced that broadcasters from 37 countries would participate in the 2024 contest. Luxembourg returned to the contest 31 years after its last participation in 1993. Romania, which participated in the 2023 contest, was provisionally announced as not participating in 2024. This was confirmed on 25 January 2024.

The contest featured two returning artists: Natalia Barbu, who had represented Moldova in 2007, and Hera Björk, who had represented Iceland in 2010.

Other countries

Active EBU member broadcasters in Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Monaco and Slovakia confirmed non-participation prior to the announcement of the participants list by the EBU. The Romanian broadcaster, TVR, remained in talks with the EBU until 25 January 2024, when it decided not to participate for financial reasons.

Production

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 was produced by the Swedish national broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT). The core team consisted of Ebba Adielsson as executive producer, Christel Tholse Willers as deputy executive producer, Tobias Åberg as executive in charge of production, Johan Bernhagen as executive line producer, Christer Björkman as contest producer, and Per Blankens as TV producer. Additional production personnel included head of production David Wessén, head of legal Mats Lindgren, head of media Madeleine Sinding-Larsen, and executive assistant Linnea Lopez.

Edward af Sillén and Daniel Réhn wrote the script for the live shows' hosting segments and the opening and interval acts, while Robin Hofwander, Daniel Jelinek and Fredrik Bäcklund served as multi-camera directors. Background music for the shows was composed by Eirik Røland and Johan Nilsson. A majority of the production personnel for 2024 previously worked in the previous three editions of the contest held in Sweden: 2000, 2013 and 2016.

Malmö Municipality initially contributed SEK 30 million (€2.5 million) to the budget of the contest. An additional SEK 12.8 million (€1.15 million) was later spent on security measures in the lead-up to and during the event. The total budget was SEK 277 million (€25.2 million), with SVT's contribution approximated at SEK 100 million (€9.1 million).

Slogan and visual design

On 14 November 2023, the EBU announced that "United by Music", the slogan of the 2023 contest, would be retained for 2024 and future editions. The accompanying theme art for 2024, named "The Eurovision Lights", was unveiled on 14 December. Designed by Stockholm-based agencies Uncut and Bold Scandinavia, it was based on simple, linear gradients inspired by vertical lines found on auroras and sound equalisers, and was built with adaptability across different formats taken into account.

Stage design

The stage design for the 2024 contest, revealed in December 2023, was devised by German production designer Florian Wieder, who had previously designed the sets of six previous contests – the most recent being in 2021. Lighting and screen content was designed by Swedish designer Fredrik Stormby. The stage featured five movable LED cubes, floors and a backdrop screen along with other lighting, video and stagecraft technology, all set around a cross-shaped centre, with the aim of "creating a unique 360-degree experience" for viewers. The green room was placed behind the backdrop screen, in a similar fashion to the stages for the 2010 and 2011 contests. Construction of the stage began on 2 April and concluded on 25 April.

Postcards

The "postcards" are short video introductions shown on television while the stage is being prepared for the next entry. Filmed between February and May 2024, the postcards were composed of footage shot by the participating artists through "selfie-mode", introducing the artists themselves and the country they represent. Archival footage of two of each country's previous entries was also used in each postcard, which ends with a slow-motion shot of each artist.

Presenters

Swedish comedian and television host Petra Mede and Swedish-American actress Malin Åkerman were announced as the presenters of the 2024 contest on 5 February 2024. Mede had previously hosted both the 2013 and 2016 editions (solo and with Måns Zelmerlöw, respectively), as well as the 2015 special anniversary programme Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits alongside Graham Norton. The "Turquoise Carpet" and opening ceremony events were hosted by Elecktra and Tia Kofi, while Jovan Radomir moderated the contest's press conferences.