Malmö is getting ready to host the 68th edition of the world’s most famous music competition. When it comes to the Eurovision Song Contest, undoubtedly, the voting process stands out as one of the most anticipated and exciting moments of the event. Throughout its history, the selection of the contest winner and the ranking of participants have undergone modifications to adapt to the audience and the public’s tastes.
In this year’s edition in Malmö, the voting system continues with the changes implemented last year. National juries and viewers from home will hold the fate of the final outcome in their hands. However, the tele-vote will carry significant weight in the final result, the highest since the introduction of the mixed voting system.
Key Changes in Eurovision 2024
Despite following the footsteps of 2023 with the elimination of the semi-final jury, the EBU has introduced innovations in the voting process directly impacting the tele-vote, as well as in the format of the semi-finals.
Viewers will be able to vote from the beginning of the show, before the first performance, reverting to the system implemented in 2010 and 2011.
The rest of the world’s voting period is extended, with nearly 24 hours of voting. Online voting for the rest of the world will open immediately after the conclusion of each show’s second dress rehearsal, known as the jury show. It will remain open until the live shows begin. Both the BIG5 and the host country will perform as a semi-final country, but it will be an exhibition or rehearsal performance.
The main changes implemented last year will be maintained
Viewers from home will decide the countries that will qualify in each semi-final (May 7th and 9th). Thus, the tele-vote exclusively determines the countries that secure a coveted spot in the Grand Final on May 11th.
Non-participating countries’ audiences can vote on the web platform. Spectators worldwide can vote through the online platform www.esc.vote. To vote online, a valid credit card will be required. Online voting for the whole world will have a fixed cost per vote adjusted to the official currency of the country from which it is issued. In both the semi-finals and the Grand Final, the vote of non-participating countries will be counted together as if it were one more country. This makes the public vote in the Grand Final weigh approximately 50.60%, compared to the 50/50 of previous editions.
In the Grand Final, the national jury vote will be combined with that of the audience to decide the final outcome. In the semi-finals, expert panels will cast their votes, but it will not be counted unless errors occur in the tele-vote. In such cases, their scores will be used instead of the public vote.
These changes, announced on November 22, 2022, by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organization responsible for the competition, aim to prevent irregularities in voting, as occurred in Turin 2022.
The organization will closely monitor that the voting process is transparent and in accordance with the regulations. In the event of irregular voting patterns in national juries, the EBU considers several scenarios:
- If it occurs in the semi-finals, although not counted, the jury will be disqualified and unable to vote in the Grand Final.
- If it happens in the Grand Final, those juries will be directly sidelined. Then, the public vote would be doubled so that the proportions are not affected.
- In the worst-case scenario, if a country does not have a valid public and jury vote, that country’s results will be based on votes from countries with similar voting records.
Decisive Public Vote
Once again, viewers will play a crucial role in the outcome of the Eurovision Song Contest. In all three shows, each performance will be assigned a numerical code according to its order of appearance. Viewers can support their favorite act by using the corresponding code through phone calls, SMS, and the official Eurovision Song Contest app, thanks to the lines provided by participating public broadcasters.
One of the significant changes this year is the opening of the voting lines as soon as the show starts. The contest’s hosts will kick off the tele-vote, which will be available throughout the entire show. At the end of the performances, recaps of the competing songs along with the voting lines and codes will be broadcasted. Viewers must pay attention to the different numbers displayed on the screen.
Each person can vote up to 20 times for a country from each device. And remember a fundamental Eurovision tradition and rule: you cannot vote for your own country.
Semi-finals: The Road to the Grand Final
31 countries vie for a spot in the Eurovision 2024 Grand Final. To achieve this, they must be among the top 10 most voted in each elimination round. In the first semi-final (May 7th), 15 countries will participate, while the second semi-final (May 9th) will feature 16.
As a novelty this year, the BIG 5 countries (Germany, Spain, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom) and the host (Sweden) will perform in their respective semi-finals where they vote, but with their place in the final already secured. On one hand, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Germany will be present in the first semi-final, while Spain, France, and Italy will perform in the second semi-final.
In this edition, the decision of the eliminations will be solely in the hands of the spectators. Thus, the vote of national juries has been eliminated, although they will vote to have reserve scores in case there is no valid tele-vote in any country.
During the eliminations, we will not know the complete classification or the points received by each country. Only the 10 qualifiers from each semi-final will be revealed in random order.
The Grand Final: How is the Winner of Eurovision 2024 Decided?
In the grand final, the winner of Eurovision 2024 will be determined by the votes of the audience (including those from the rest of the world) and the national juries, providing a broader view of who deserves to win the crystal microphone.
Although the rankings are not revealed live during the semi-finals, in the grand final, we will know the points received by each of the 26 participating countries.
The public will have the opportunity to vote for their favorites from the beginning of the show. Each performance will be assigned a voting code according to its order of appearance, which will be announced after the last semi-final (from Thursday, May 9th to Friday, May 10th). For now, only Sweden’s position (1st) is known, as the host and organizer of Eurovision 2024.
Remember that all 37 countries of the edition, both finalists and semi-finalists who did not make it to the grand final, will vote.
Once the voting lines are closed, it will be time to reveal the results. On one hand, the vote of the national juries, where the participating television stations will have a panel of 5 experts who will individually evaluate each performance (except their own country’s). A joint ranking will be established, in which the top 10 will receive points: 12 points for the best-rated song, 10 for the second, 8 for the third, and so on from 7 to 1. Remember that their vote is cast the day before, during the dress rehearsal known as the jury show. Subsequently, the national spokespeople will announce the results of each jury, awarding the iconic “12 points”.
Next, the result of the public vote from non-participating countries will be revealed, as if they were one more country, following the same scoring system.
Finally, the audience’s vote will be announced. In each country, a ranking will be established in order of the highest to the lowest number of votes received. The top 10 favorites of the public will receive points from 1 to 8, 10, and the coveted 12 points. However, only the overall points received by each country will be announced. They will be grouped together, adding up all the points received by each performance.
The presenters will gradually reveal the tele-votes received by each country in the order of the classification after the national juries’ scores. Once the winner of the edition is known, each participating broadcaster will reveal the tele-vote results in their country on-screen.
With this voting system, excitement is guaranteed as we will not know the winner of Eurovision 2024 until all the results of the national juries and public vote are revealed. Finally, the country that tops the ranking will be crowned with the crystal microphone.