Eurovision confirms voting changes for Malmö 2024

Organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest this week announced changes to voting for Malmö 2024.

Voting in the Final will open just before the first song is performed.

Viewers will be able to cast their votes as the songs are performed, rather than waiting until all entries have been presented, as has been the case since public voting was introduced in 1997 (except in 2010 and 2011 when voting also began at the start of the show).

Additionally, fans in non-participating countries (Rest of The World) will now have nearly 24 hours to vote for their favourite songs before each of the live shows begin.

Online voting will open for the Rest of The World 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.

Executive Producer Ebba Adielsson said, “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.

“(Swedish broadcaster) 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.”

Well that’s not quite true… Aussies will still have to set the alarm as we are not in Rest of World given we compete.

Martin Österdahl adds: “By the time voting opens for the Grand Final every participating song will have been performed on stage so viewers will have had the chance to see all the acts competing to win this year’s show. The Eurovision Song Contest is always evolving and with more performances and chances to vote it promises to be the most exciting edition yet!”

For the very first time, the artists from the Big Five countries – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom – and host nation Sweden will each perform their entries in full live during the Semi-Finals.

In the Semi-Finals, 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

And you won’t have to wait for the interval to see the songs – the three additional performances in each Semi-Final will be slotted in between the competing countries’ acts.

Ebba Adielsson, Executive Producer of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024: said, “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.”

Martin Österdahl, the Contest’s Executive Supervisor welcomed the changes: “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.”

There are no changes to jury voting.

There’ll be another big change for Malmö 2024 announced soon….