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The Rules of the Contest 2024

The Eurovision Song Contest has a detailed set of Rules, which have been established by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and are approved by the contest's governing body, the Reference Group. On this page you can find the public summary of the Rules of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.

This version of the Rules is provided for the public informational purposes only.

EBU CO-PRODUCTION

INTERNATIONAL COPRODUCTION

The Eurovision Song Contest (the "ESC") is an international coproduction by broadcasting organisations having the status of Members of the EBU, as defined under the EBU Statutes (the "Members") which is carried out under the auspices of the European Broadcasting Union (the "EBU") as part of the television programme exchange known as Eurovision for the benefit of the Participating Broadcasters and of the Host Broadcaster. 

The EBU appoints an Executive Supervisor (hereafter the “ESC Executive Supervisor”) to supervise the organization of the ESC and the production of the Shows as well as to oversee the preparation of the ESC operations throughout the year as further detailed under these Rules.

NUMBER OF PARTICIPATING BROADCASTERS

A maximum of 44 Members shall be allowed to participate (the "Participating Broadcasters"). 

Members from a maximum total of 26 countries shall compete in the Final. 

There shall be six guaranteed places therein, i.e. one for the producing organization, i.e. the Member which has won the preceding edition (the "Host Broadcaster"), and the five Members from France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom (the “Big 5”). Subject to a decision by the EBU in consultation with the Reference Group, the number of guaranteed places in the Final may be modified depending on circumstances. 

Apart from the six broadcasters with guaranteed places, all Participating Broadcasters from a maximum of 38 countries shall compete in one of the Semi-Finals for the remaining places in the Final.

FORMAT

LIVE PRIME TIME ENTERTAINMENT SHOWS

The ESC is traditionally composed of three live Shows, two Semi-Finals, on Tuesdays and on Thursdays and one Final taking place on Saturdays taking place annually in May, in the country of the Host Broadcaster. The Acts are performed during the Shows in front of a live audience and the Shows are presented on stage, in both English and French, by the international presenters. 

The Shows are produced and transmitted live by the Host Broadcaster and are made available over the Eurovision network for live broadcast by the Participating Broadcasters.

Each Show is a state-of-the-art, prime-time entertainment programme, world-class live television production. It consists in a musical competition in which artists entered by the Participating Broadcasters (the "Contestants") will compete at the ESC by performing on stage live on television, songs (the "Acts") to represent their respective countries. The Acts are performed one after the other with short sequences (the "Postcards") in between.

The allocation of the countries to the two Semi-Finals and the position of appearance of the Host Broadcaster in the Final shall be decided by means of draws. 

The outcome of the ESC is decided by the votes casted by the National Audiences and by National Juries appointed in the countries of the Participating Broadcasters.

During the Audience Voting window and the time necessary to calculate the results, there shall be so-called "interval acts" produced by the Host Broadcaster (the "Interval Acts").

The announcement of the results is generally followed from a so-called "Green Room" by the Contestants having entered the ESC.

National commentary by commentators appointed by each of the Participating Broadcasters is added to the international version of the Shows for broadcast in their respective countries.

ENTRIES REQUIREMENTS

SELECTION OF THE SONGS

Each song which competes in the ESC shall be selected through a national selection to be organized by each Participating Broadcaster. The national selection is organized under the sole responsibility of the Participating Broadcaster in question.

SONGS REQUIREMENTS

(i) RELEASE DATE

The songs (lyrics and music compositions) submitted to represent the country of each Participating Broadcaster’s country in the ESC must be original and must not have been released and/or publicly performed in part or in full before 1 September 2023 (the Release Date”).

In case the song submitted has been made available to the public, for example, but not limited to, on online video platforms, social networks or (semi-) publicly accessible databanks and/or performed publicly, for example but not limited to during concerts, prior to the Release Date the Participating Broadcaster must inform the ESC Executive Supervisor, who shall have authority to evaluate whether the song remains eligible for participation in the Contest. 

In particular, the ESC Executive Supervisor shall assess whether such disclosure prior to the Release Date is likely to give to the song an advantage in the Contest vis-à-vis the other participating songs. 

The ESC Executive Supervisor shall have authority to authorise or deny participation of a song which may have been available to the public as described above. The ESC Executive Supervisor shall consult the Reference Group in case of doubt.

(ii) DURATION

The maximum duration of each song is three minutes. Any song/performance which is longer shall not be eligible to participate and the Participating Broadcaster may be disqualified in case it fails (i) to submit to the EBU a song complying with the requested duration hereunder by the prescribed deadline or (ii) to (have) perform(ed) on stage, a song complying with the requested duration hereunder.

(iii) LANGUAGE

Each Participating Broadcaster is free to decide the language in which its Contestant(s) will sing.

PERFORMANCES AT THE ESC

(i) PERFORMANCES IN THE SHOWS

The stage performance shall be identical in all second (Jury) Dress Rehearsals and during the live Shows. 

(ii) LIVE PERFORMANCES ON STAGE (AND BACKING TRACKS)

All songs shall be performed live on the stage in the Host City at the selected Venue with recorded Backing Tracks.

No on-stage Contestant (whether Lead Singer(s), or dancers) shall be allowed to lip-sync in such a way as to give the impression that they are singing when they actually are not.

No pitch-correction (e.g. Auto-tuning) for live vocals shall be allowed in any case for the live Act performances on stage.

Plugging instruments to play live on stage shall not be allowed. The Host Broadcaster and the ESC Executive Supervisor shall verify respect for this rule. 

CONTESTANTS (ELIGIBILTY CRITERIA)

(i) MAXIMUM NUMBER OF CONTESTANTS

Each performance may consist of a maximum of six artists on stage. No live animals shall be allowed on stage.

(ii) AGE OF CONTESTANTS

All Contestants and artists competing in a Semi-Final must be aged at least 16 on the day of the Final. All Contestants and artists competing only in the Final must be aged at least 16 on the day of the Final.

(iii) COUNTRY REPRESENTATION

No Contestant and/or artist may compete for more than one country in the ESC in a given year.

VOTING

OUTCOME OF THE ESC

The outcome of the ESC is determined by votes which are cast by 

I) IN THE COUNTRIES OF THE PARTICIPATING BROADCASTERS

  • the national audiences of the Participating Broadcasters (the “National Audience”) in both Semi-Finals and the Grand-Final through centralised televoting (the “Televoting”) and where feasible or mandatory, through paid online voting (the “paid online voting)” – When referred collectively hereafter, the televoting and the paid online voting shall be referred to as the “National Audience Voting”
  • the Jurors of the National Juries appointed by each Participating Broadcaster in each participating country (Grand-Final only), and

II) OUTSIDE THE COUNTRIES OF THE PARTICIPATING BROADCASTERS (THE “REST OF THE WORLD" OR “ROW“)

  • the international audience outside of the countries of the Participating Broadcasters (the “RoW Audience“), in both Semi-Finals and the Grand-Final through centralised paid online voting (the “RoW Voting”).

When referred collectively hereafter, the National Audience Voting and the RoW Voting shall be referred to as the “Audience Voting”.

The National Audience Voting is compulsory in all the countries of the Participating Broadcasters. Each Participating Broadcaster shall cooperate with the Voting Partner appointed by the EBU for the National Audience Voting and the national jury voting so as to ensure a central control and verification of the results.

All Participating Broadcasters are obliged to follow the agreed rules in relation to the voting which shall be laid down in the Official Voting Instructions which shall be an integral part of these Rules (to be distributed separately).

AUDIENCE VOTING– VOTES OF NATIONAL AUDIENCES AND RoW AUDIENCE

(i) IMPLEMENTATION

NATIONAL AUDIENCE VOTING

In the Semi-Final: All Participating Broadcasters presenting a song in a Semi-Final are obliged to implement the National Audience Voting system for that Semi-Final. The six Participating Broadcasters with guaranteed places in the Final shall also implement the National Audience Voting system for the Semi-Final which they are required to broadcast.

In the Final: All Participating Broadcasters are obliged to implement the National Audience Voting system for the Final in their respective countries.

REST OF THE WORLD AUDIENCE VOTING

The principle of the RoW voting is to collect all votes cast in the countries outside the countries of the Participating Broadcasters and to combine the votes of the RoW Audience as one additional country. 

(ii) MODALITIES

IN THE COUNTRIES OF THE PARTICIPATING BROADCASTERS: NATIONAL AUDIENCE VOTING

MEANS OF NATIONAL AUDIENCE VOTING: Viewers in the countries of the Participating Broadcasters are invited to vote for their favourite songs by means of televoting (votes of the National Audiences by telephone and SMS, including the ESC App) and in certain countries, where such method is agreed upon between the Voting Partner and the Participating Broadcaster concerned, via paid online voting.

NO VOTING FOR ITS OWN COUNTRY: Voters must be excluded from voting for the song of their own country of residence, and this must be made known to them.

IN THE REST OF THE WORLD: ROW VOTING

MEANS OF RoW VOTING: In the Rest of the World, the audience in the RoW is invited to vote through a dedicated website operated by the Voting Partner under the supervision of the EBU. The RoW Audience is eligible to vote for all songs in each Show.

VOTING RESTRICTIONS: Audiences from Participating Broadcasters shall not be eligible to vote in the RoW voting.

The countries in which the RoW voting shall be implemented and performed shall be decided by the EBU and subject to applicable restrictions that may exist in some countries.

III) AWARD OF THE POINTS

WITH RESPECT TO NATIONAL AUDIENCE VOTING, IN EACH COUNTRY, the song which has received the highest number of votes shall be ranked first, the song which has received the second highest number of votes shall be ranked second, and so on until the last song. 

In both Semi-Finals and in the Grand-Final, only the ten best ranked songs in the Audience will be considered and the results of the National Audiences in each country shall be determined as follows: 

  • 12 points shall be allocated to the song having obtained the best rank from the National Audiences;
  • 10 points to the song having obtained the second-best rank from the National Audiences, 
  • 8 points to the song having obtained the third-best rank from the National Audiences, 
  • 7 points to the next, 
  • and so on, down to 1 point for the song having obtained the tenth-best rank from the National Audiences.

WITH RESPECT TO THE ROW VOTING, all the votes cast by the RoW Audience from the non-participating countries will be counted together and shall award a total of 58 points, (i.e it will count as one single participating country). The points will be attributed using the same manner as the one used for the National Audience Voting, (i.e. from 1 to 8, 10, and 12 points),

VOTES OF NATIONAL JURIES

(i) IMPLEMENTATION

In addition to the National Audience Voting, in each participating country, there shall be a National Jury to be appointed by that country's Participating Broadcaster, unless decided otherwise by the Reference Group, to vote in the Semi-Finals and in the Final. The Reference Group may decide to change the jury voting set-up. 

National Juries shall vote in all the countries of the Participating Broadcasters and in all cases.

In the Semi-Final: All Participating Broadcasters having a Contestant in a Semi-Final shall ensure that a National Jury votes in that Semi-Final. The six Participating Broadcasters with guaranteed places in the Final shall also appoint a National Jury to vote in the Semi-Final which they are required to broadcast.

In the Final: All Participating Broadcasters shall appoint a National Jury to vote in the Final (even if their song is not selected for the Final).

Implementation of the compulsory National Audience Voting shall not exempt any Participating Broadcaster from appointing a National Jury.

(ii) MODALITIES

The National Juries shall not be allowed to vote for the song of their own country.

When voting, Jury Members shall use all their professional skill and experience without favoring any Contestant on the account of their nationality, gender or likeliness and shall be free from bias, external influence foreign perspectives or pressure (including but not limited to betting odds or public opinions). The sole reference for their judgment must be the performance of the Acts during the second (Jury) Dress Rehearsals of the respective Shows. 

(iii) AWARD OF THE POINTS

With respect to the National Jury, the National Jurors shall rank first their favourite song, second, their second favourite song, third, their third favourite song, and so on until their least favourite song which shall be ranked last. 

Abstentions are not allowed, except that the song representing the country of the Participating Broadcaster which has appointed the National Jury shall be excluded from the vote. 

It is not allowed to award the same rank to two different songs.

In both Semi-Finals and in the Grand-Final, only the ten best inal ranked songs by the National Jury will be considered; the results of the National Jury in each country shall be determined as follows: 

  • 12 points shall be allocated to the song having obtained the best rank from the National Jury;
  • 10 points to the song having obtained the second-best rank from the National Jury, 
  • 8 points to the song having obtained the third-best rank from the National Jury, 
  • 7 points to the next, 
  • and so on, down to 1 point for the song having obtained the tenth-best rank from the National Jury.

RESULTS

In the Semi Finals, subject to the Reference Group approval, only the points of Audiences which have voted in the respective Semi-Finals shall be used to calculate the official result of each Semi-Final.

In the Final; the points of the National Audiences and of the National Juries shall be combined according to a ratio which is determined by the EBU, subject to the Reference Group approval, to calculate the official result of the Final.

For example, if the ratio is 50-50, the points of the National Jury carry the same weight as the points of the National Audiences.

PRESENTATION AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE RESULTS

The results shall be announced once all songs have been performed, after the Audience Voting window is closed and the results have been calculated.

IN THE SEMI FINALS

In the Semi-Finals, the international presenters shall announce the names of the countries which have qualified from the Semi-Finals for the Final.

IN THE FINAL

The results of the National Juries in each country are announced in turn by the spokesperson of each Participating Broadcaster, clearly and distinctly in English or in French, stating the name of the country concerned and the points allocated by its National Jury.

The Audience Voting results are announced by the International Presenters.

The Audience Voting points from all participating countries are combined with the points of the National Juries, providing one combined score for each song.

At the end of the process, the International Presenters shall announce the winner(s).

The Contestants, song writer(s) and Participating Broadcaster of the winning song(s) in the Final shall receive the ESC Trophy, and the transmission of the Final shall end with a further performance of the winning song(s).

WINNERS

The respective winners of the Semi-Finals shall be the 10 song(s) in each Semi-Final which, according to all information made available to the EBU by the Voting Partner, has/have obtained the highest number of points once the results of the National Audiences have been added at the time of announcement of the results.

The winner(s) of the Final shall be the song(s) which, according to all information made available to the EBU by the Voting Partner, has/have obtained the highest combined number of points once the results of the National Audiences and of the National Juries have been added at the time of announcement of the results.

ESC TITLE AND VALUES

ESC TITLE

The main title of the Shows is the "Eurovision Song Contest", followed by the year during which it takes place. 

It shall be used by all broadcasters, although they may instead use a translation into their national language, subject to the approval of the EBU. If the translation is approved, the main title need not be used. Broadcasters are also permitted to include a minor title under the main title, using the name by which the ESC has been known in recent years in their respective countries.

NON-POLITICAL EVENT

The ESC is a non-political event. All Participating Broadcasters, including the Host Broadcaster, shall be responsible to ensure that all necessary measures are undertaken within in their respective Delegations and teams to safeguard the interests and the integrity of the ESC and to make sure that the ESC shall in no case be politicized and/or instrumentalized and/or otherwise brought into disrepute in any way. 

VALUES AND INTEGRITY

"EBU Values": Universality, Independence, Excellence, Diversity, Accountability and Innovation.

"ESC Values": Universality, diversity, equality and inclusivity and proud tradition of celebrating diversity through music


The Participating Broadcasters shall at all times respect the EBU and the ESC Values and take all steps to protect the integrity of the ESC and of the Shows. 

They shall ensure that no contestant, delegation or country is discriminated and/or ridiculed in any manner.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

OWNERSHIP

The EBU is in exclusive control of all centralized marketing and exploitation of the ESC on a worldwide basis.

DISTRIBUTION LICENSING

Without prejudice to the other rules in this Section, all broadcasting and other rights to the Shows and the ESC are exclusively owned by the EBU, to be managed centrally by the EBU on behalf of the Participating Broadcasters. The EBU shall be responsible for coordinating all sales of the Shows (including any ESC content produced by the EBU), in whole or in part, to non-participating broadcasters from countries where rights remain available and to third parties.

THE SHOWS

Radio: All Members which are radio organisations shall be granted, free of charge (except for the usual rights payments to national collecting societies), for their territory, the right to broadcast on a linear basis the Shows (live or deferred), in whole or in part, an unlimited number of times until the next ESC, (the celebrity act may have to be excluded for deferred broadcasts taking place 30 days after the Final, if so notified by the EBU). In addition, they are entitled to make available on a non-linear basis until the next ESC audio extracts from the Shows on their fully owned website, as long as no more than 30 seconds per song are used.

Members which are radio organisations but which are not part of a Participating Broadcaster's organization and which are located in the country of a Participating Broadcaster which includes both a radio and a television service shall be entitled to broadcast the Shows only if they have obtained the prior written authorization of the Participating Broadcaster in that country.

Radio organizations (other than Members) from countries where rights remain available, may acquire the right to broadcast the Shows on their territory from the EBU.

Television and online platforms: Television broadcasters and media organisations from countries where rights remain available may acquire from the EBU the right to broadcast or otherwise transmit the Shows on their territory on a linear and/or non linear basis. In countries where rights remain available, non-participating EBU Members shall have a first option, to be exercised within a deadline set by the EBU, to purchase the Shows for their territory. Depending on the facilities available, non-participating broadcasters from countries where rights remain available may also request the right to send a commentator, and/or a production team, to the ESC.

EXTRACTS

The EBU shall be entitled to grant licences with respect to any extracts from the Shows, and/or from the Dress Rehearsals and/or from the ESC Content produced by the EBU to third parties for inclusion in any audiovisual works or media products or services. 

ESC LOGO AND ARTWORK

No commercial or non-commercial entity shall use the logo or other distinctive elements of the ESC or the Shows without the prior written permission of the EBU.

REPORTING ACCESS RULES

Specific Reporting Access Rules for non-rightsholders are made available separately by the EBU in advance of the ESC and shall be published on Eurovision.tv.

FINAL PROVISIONS

PREVAILING VERSION

These Rules are drafted in English and French. In the event of any inconsistencies between the two versions, the English version shall prevail.

This document is intended to inform the public on the rules applicable to the Eurovision Song Contest. It is not binding upon the EBU and/or the Participating Broadcasters.