Tonight: Semi-final 2 of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024

We already know the first 16 songs qualified for the Grand Final on Saturday. Tonight, the second Semi-final will decide the last 10 qualifiers.

16 songs will be performed, but only 10 will qualify for Saturday's Grand Final. The show starts at 21:00 CEST, live from Malmö Arena in Sweden. The hosts are Petra Mede and Malin Åkerman.

The running order was decided by Swedish broadcaster and producer SVT based on an allocation draw.

Lineup Semi-final 2

Opening: "Tattoo"

Tonight's Semi-final begins with a quick recap of the Semi-final 1 finalists.

It's followed by a sketch of Petra Mede and Malin Åkerman. They're in a spa and are ready to get their tanning done. It quickly turns into the two hosts singing "Tattoo" from last year, but with different lyrics, fun ones that introduce the viewers to tonight's show.

Once the segment is over, Petra and Malin are welcomed on stage. Besides the usual jokes, the hosts introduce the competition and tell some facts: The qualifiers will be 100% decided by the televote, the voting lines will only open once all 16 songs have been performed, and that France, Italy and Spain will perform live on stage tonight.

After seven minutes, it's time for the first country: Malta.

Postcards

Before each of the 16 songs we'll see a small "postcard" while the stage is being prepared for the song. Each of the 16 postcards feature the same idea:

We see two short clips of previous iconic Eurovision performances by the country.

They're followed by a brief, self-recorded video of the artist as if it were an Instagram story or TikTok video including footage of emblematic places, food, and activities from the country.

At last, we see a professional slow-motion video of the artist along with the name.

Commercial Breaks

After song number five (Czechia), the evening's first commercial break takes place:

Malin is on stage to introduce an homage to Jahn Teigen (Norway 1978, 1982, 1983) who passed away in 2020.

His first ever entry, "Mil Etter Mil," was the first entry to get zero points. It's the perfect occasion to remember the dismissed entries who also ended up with weak results.

We're back with the first of the Big-5: France.

After song number eight (Armenia), a quick commercial break takes place:

The whole break is guided by the two hosts who share the curiosity that the majority of ticket buyers come from the United Kingdom. They move on to give a quick shout out to four main languages: French, Spanish, Italian and German.

Before Latvia, they also promote Eurovision Song Contest merchandise.

Interval Act: Sing Along, "We Love Eurovision," and Herrey's

After all 16 songs have been performed, it's time to start the voting. All countries in Semi-final 2, along with the three pre-qualified countries, France, Spain and Italy, can vote in this Semi-final.

The two presenters explain the rules and are quick to open the voting:

START VOTING NOW!

The first recap plays, and then it's time for the first interval act, "Sing Along," inspired by Sweden's "Allsång på Skansen" (a TV show where the audience sings along).

It all starts with the two hosts trusting that the audience knows the words to Helena Paparizou's "My Number One."

After a few lines echoed in the arena, Helena Paparizou is on stage singing her 2005 winning song. Charlotte Perrelli is next with "Take Me To Your Heaven," and it all culminates with Turkey's winner Sertab Erener with "Everyway That I Can."

One final recap takes place before the countdown starts:

STOP VOTING NOW!

A quick visit to the green room is followed by another commercial break.

The viewers without commercials will see a number of songs that never made it to Eurovision including Eurovision legends, ABBA, who in 1973 participated and finished third in Sweden's Melodifestivalen with "Ring Ring." Per Gessle from Roxette, Ace of Base, Robyn, and former winners who tried again are also highlighted.

Short clips of the Semi-final 2 artists on the turquoise carpet are shown, and Malin lets the viewers know that Eurovision is in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest-running annual international televised music competition.

Commercial break is over, and it's time for the last interval act: "We Just Eurovision Too Much," which is like "Love, Love, Peace, Peace" from Eurovision 2016 – with a Finnish touch.

This time it features Petra Mede and Charlotte Perrelli singing a really funny song about Sweden's love for Eurovision with lyrics like "Please don't be angry with us, we just love Eurovision too much." The iconic figure Lynda Woodruff appears and joins the act. It all culminates with last year's runner-up, Käärijä, performing a shortened version of "Cha Cha Cha."

Just before the results are revealed, a compilation of previous winners is shown, and finally it's time. The backstage opens and we can now see the 16 competing acts and their delegations.

We're ready to find out who the 10 qualifiers are, and Martin Österdahl, the boss who oversees everything related to Eurovision, announces that all is set for the big announcement.

THE 10 SONGS QUALIFIED FOR THE GRAND FINAL ARE...

🏳️🏳️🏳️🏳️🏳️🏳️🏳️🏳️🏳️🏳️

And just before we go to bed (or to party), here's Herrey's!

Voting

The voting procedure follows the same recipe as last year. In the Semi-finals, there will be no juries. Viewers in some of the non-participating countries ("the rest of the world") will now be able to vote online. These online votes will have the same weight as one participating country in both of the Semi-Finals, as well as the Grand Final. Each country and "the rest of the world" will have one set of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 points to give.

• The 10 songs with most points will qualify for the Grand Final.
• Each of the 16 countries participating in Semi-final 2 will vote.
• The pre-qualified countries France, Spain and Italy will broadcast and vote in Semi-final 2.
• Each country will have televoting, which results in a set of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 points.
• "The rest of the world" can vote online, which results in a set of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 points.
• The voting results will not be revealed before the Grand Final has finished on Saturday.
• Only the 10 qualified songs will be revealed, and in random order.

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 qualified 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