It’s one of the world’s most-watched non-sporting annual events, and this year, all eyes will be on Basel, Switzerland, the host of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest.
The competition organized by the European Broadcasting Union is in its 69th year, created a little over a decade after the end of World War II, but the event known for its spectacular choreography, onstage pyrotechnics, and lack of subtlety is also bracing itself for another year of protests over the inclusion of Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]Here’s what to know.
How does Eurovision work?
Each year, participating countries submit a song and artist who will perform during three live televised shows, typically in May. Countries are chosen to participate based on their membership in the EBU, hence why some non-European countries like Australia and Israel have participated.
Songs have to be original and no longer than three minutes, lead vocals must be performed live, there can be no live instrumentation, and no more than six performers can be onstage at a time during a performance.
Fans then cast their votes via telephone, SMS, or the Eurovision app by giving songs points ranging from 1 to 12 (with 12 being the best score). Juries—representatives from each participating country—also give songs points over Zoom call. The one caveat is that jurors and voters at home are not allowed to vote for their own country.
During the semi-finals, only voters from countries that qualified and from non-participating countries can vote, and only the audience televote points determine the qualifying countries.
In the grand final, all competing and non-participating countries can vote. The audience televote is added up with jury points to determine the winner.
From the 37 countries that participated this year, 26 will compete in the grand final. Fan favorites include Sweden’s “Bara Bada Bastu,” which roughly translates to Let’s Just Sauna, performed by KAJ.
When is the Eurovision final and how can I watch?
This year’s grand final will be on May 17 at the Jakobshalle, a 12,000 person-capacity arena in Basel. Switzerland is this year’s host country because Swiss singer Nemo won last year’s contest with pop-rap song “The Code.” Traditionally, the winning country hosts the next year’s contest, except in 2023 when the contest was hosted in Liverpool, U.K., in lieu of Ukraine, whose Kalush Orchestra won in 2022 but which could not host due to its ongoing war with Russia.
In the lead up to the final, there were two live semi-finals on May 13 and May 15. Performances are available to watch on the Eurovision Song Contest’s official YouTube channel.
The final will be shown on each of the participating countries’ broadcasters and livestreamed on YouTube. In the U.S., it will be exclusively streamed on Peacock, starting at 3pm E.T.
Who is competing in the final?
This year’s finalists in alphabetical order are:
- Albania: Shkodra Elektronike – “Zjerm”
- Armenia: PARG – “SURVIVOR”
- Austria: JJ – “Wasted Love”
- Denmark: Sissal – “Hallucination”
- Estonia: Tommy Cash – “Espresso Macchiato”
- Finland: Erika Vikman – “ICH KOMME”
- France: Louane – “maman”
- Germany: Abor & Tynna – “Baller”
- Greece: Klavdia – “Asteromáta”
- Iceland: VÆB – “RÓA”
- Israel: Yuval Raphael – “New Day Will Rise”
- Italy: Lucio Corsi – “Volevo Essere Un Duro”
- Latvia: Tautumeitas – “Bur Man Laimi”
- Lithuania: Katarsis – “Tavo Akys”
- Luxembourg: Laura Thorn – “La Poupée Monte Le Son”
- Malta: Miriana Conte – “SERVING”
- Netherlands: Claude – “C’est La Vie”
- Norway: Kyle Alessandro – “Lighter”
- Poland: Justyna Steczkowska – “GAJA”
- Portugal: NAPA – “Deslocado”
- San Marino: Gabry Ponte – “Tutta L’Italia”
- Spain: Melody – “ESA DIVA”
- Sweden: KAJ – “Bara Bada Bastu”
- Switzerland: Zoë Më – “Voyage”
- United Kingdom: Remember Monday – “What The Hell Just Happened?”
- Ukraine: Ziferblat – “Bird of Pray”
Six of those countries automatically qualified for the finals: the host Switzerland, along with the “Big Five” countries that contribute the most financially to the contest—France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K.
Out of 15 countries that competed in the first semi-final, five were eliminated: Slovenia, Belgium, Azerbaijan, Croatia and Cyprus. Six of another 16 countries were then eliminated in the second semi-finals: Australia, Czechia, Georgia, Ireland, Montenegro and Serbia.
Why are there protests?
Eurovision in November 2023 permanently adopted the slogan “United by Music,” but it seems more hopeful than declarative.
Israel’s Yuval Raphael qualified for the grand finals this year. During her performance of “New Day Will Rise” at a preview show on Thursday, six people in the audience blew whistles and held up Palestinian flags that were larger than the arena’s limit on flag size. The demonstrators were escorted out of the arena. Others have marched in Basel in protest of Israel’s inclusion in the competition. Several have pointed to the fact that Russia was excluded from the contest following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In past weeks, national broadcasters in Iceland, Ireland, Slovenia, and Spain expressed concerns about including Israel, which first took part in the contest in 1973. The EBU told NBC News in a statement that it will “continue to listen to all members. As we did in 2024, we will have a broader discussion when the Contest concludes with all participating broadcasters to reflect on all aspects of this year’s event.”
This year, more than 70 former participants, including last year’s winner, Nemo, signed a letter calling for Israel to be excluded from the contest because of its ongoing bombardment of Gaza, which is estimated to have resulted in the deaths of at least 50,000 Palestinians since October 2023.
“By continuing to platform the representation of the Israeli state, the EBU is normalising and whitewashing its crimes,” the letter reads. “The EBU has already demonstrated that it is capable of taking measures, as in 2022, when it expelled Russia from the competition. We don’t accept this double standard regarding Israel.”
Raphael was a survivor of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on the Nova music festival in Israel that ignited the last year and a half of war, and last year she described to the United Nations Human Rights Council her experience seeking refuge in a bomb shelter for eight hours. “The physical injuries I sustained are healing, but the mental scars will stay with me forever,” she said.
Raphael told the BBC that she expects to hear boos, “but we are here to sing and I’m going to sing my heart out for everyone.”
Last year’s contest was similarly roiled by protests as thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through the host city of Malmo, Sweden, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Hundreds gathered outside the Malmo Arena before the final, including climate activist Greta Thunberg. Eden Golan, who represented Israel last year, was met with a mix of cheers and boos when she took the stage.
“There were a lot of things that didn’t seem like it was all about love and unity, and that made me really sad,” Nemo said at last year’s contest. “I hope this contest can live up to its promise and continue to stand for peace and dignity for every person.”Nemo told HuffPost U.K. this year: “Israel’s actions are fundamentally at odds with the values that Eurovision claims to uphold—peace, unity, and respect for human rights.”
