Malmö Arena, Malmö, Sweden
The Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 took place in the Malmö Arena on Saturday 11 May with Semi-Finals on Tuesday 7 and Thursday 9 May.
Swedish broadcaster SVT, together with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), organises the Contest thanks to Loreen’s historic win in Liverpool in 2023.
It was the third time that Malmö hosted the Eurovision Song Contest following 1992 and 2013 editions and it was also the first time the Eurovision Song Contest hadn’t visited a capital city for 5 consecutive Contests.
Sweden itself hosted the Eurovision Song Contest for the 7th time in 2024, having previously also staged the competition in Stockholm in 1975, 2000 and 2016, in Gothenburg in 1985, and those aforementioned two Contests in Malmö.
United By Music
Following its hugely successful use by the BBC, it was agreed by SVT and the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group (the Contest governing board), to use United By Music as the official slogan for the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden, as well.
Furthermore, it was decided to keep the slogan for all successive events as part of the Contest’s global brand strategy.
The Theme Art
'The Eurovision Lights' served as the theme art for the 68th Eurovision Song Contest.
‘The Eurovision Lights’ is a concept based on simple linear gradients, inspired by the vertical lines that permeate both the northern lights and sound equalizers, and was created to be a versatile identity that can be adapted according to need and devices.
37 Participants
The Running Orders of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Finals were revealed in March. The Running Order of the Grand Final was revealed the day before the Live Show, in the early hours of Friday 10 May.
This year, the Big 5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) and our Hosts (Sweden) performed in the Semi-Finals as part of the show, even though they were already pre-qualified for the Grand Final.
The Stage
Movable LED cubes, LED floors, light, video and stage technology combined to create some spectacular variations in the arena, while the stage is placed right in the middle of the audience, shaped like a cross, creating a unique 360-degree experience that the audience and viewers got to experience that May.
The creative talents behind the concept were Florian Wieder, Production Designer, and Fredrik Stormby, Light and Screen Content Designer.
The Hosts
The 68th Eurovision Song Contest was hosted by a Hollywood star and an iconic Eurovision-veteran; Malin Åkerman and Petra Mede together led the three broadcasts, live from Malmö Arena.
The Semi-Final Qualifiers
The 10 countries that qualified to the Grand Final from the First Semi-Final were: Croatia, Ukraine, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Finland, Portugal, Slovenia, and Serbia.
The 10 countries that qualified to the Grand Final from the Second Semi-Final were: Israel, the Netherlands, Armenia, Switzerland, Greece, Estonia, Latvia, Georgia, Austria, and Norway.
The Interval Acts
In the First Semi-Final, Benjamin Ingrosso gave us a show-stopping medley featuring some of the songs he had recently performed across Europe as part of his Better Days Tour. The opening act was titled United By Music, and saw Eurovision allstars Eleni Foureira, Eric Saade and Chanel come together to perform their all-time Eurovision hits. In the First Semi-Final we also had an interval act performance from Eurovision's original double winner Johnny Logan.
In the Second Semi-Final, the audience were given the opportunity to participate in the world's biggest sing along, together with three iconic Eurovision queens – Helena Paparizou, Sertab Erener and Charlotte Perrelli. We also got to see a newly-penned Petra Mede musical number titled We Just Love Eurovision Too Much, and a closing performance from Sweden's second Eurovision winners, Herreys.
In the Grand Final, audiences were treated to performances from Björn Skifs, Alcazar and reigning champ Loreen - who performed a medley of Tattoo with her latest single Forever.
The Grand Final
25 songs competed in the Grand Final on Saturday 11 May. All 37 countries voted, along with a Rest of the World vote.
Switzerland topped the Grand Final vote with 591 points, thanks to The Code performed by Nemo. It was Switzerland's third Eurovision Song Contest win after triumphing at the inaugural Contest it hosted in 1956, and Dublin 1988.
Croatia finished in second place with 547 points, after winning the televote. Ukraine, France and Israel completed the Top 5 of the scoreboard.
