Changes to Eurovision 2024: More show – Less contest
The producer of the Grand Final, Swedish broadcaster SVT, will solely decide half of the finalists' running order
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has announced some changes to how the Running Order of the Grand Final is decided.
How the Running Order has been decided
2010
The running order in all shows were decided 100% via a random draw.
2011 2023
Each country made a draw to decide in which half of their Semi-final and/or Final they would compete in. Based on this draw, the running orders were decided by the show's producer, and approved by the EBU.
2024
Each finalist will make a draw for the running order in the Grand Final with three possible outcomes:
- First half (6 places)
- Second half (6 places)
- "Producer's choice" (13 places)
This means, that this year's show producer, SVT, freely can decide where they will put half of the countries in the running order in the Grand Final.
The EBU explains that the reason for the change is to give producers of the show even more of an opportunity. They argue that the change will make all songs in the Grand Final "stand out" and create the most exciting running order possible.
At the cost of the "contest element."
Christer Björkman, this year’s Contest Producer, explains:
– It's all about creating the best TV show possible and giving all artists a chance to shine. In previous years, with just the First Half and Second Half draws you might find many ballads ended up in the same part of the show or many favorites were drawn to perform in the same half. Adding the flexibility of Producer’s Choice gives me the ability to create an even better flow of different tempos and an even more thrilling Grand Final.
Eurovision Song Contest 2024
The 68th Eurovision Song Contest takes place on 7, 9 and 11 May 2024. The contest will be held in Malmö, Sweden, and produced by Swedish broadcaster SVT.
- Location: Malmö, Sweden
- Participants: 37
- Semi-final 1: 7 May – 15 participants: The 10 best songs qualify for the Grand Final
- Semi-final 2: 9 May – 16 participants: The 10 best songs qualify for the Grand Final
- Grand Final: 11 May – 26 participants: Sweden, Big-5 (Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom), 10 best from Semi-final 1, 10 best from Semi-final 2
