The voting window for the grand final of Eurovision 2024 will be extended. Voting will open just before the first song is performed.
That’s the news coming out of Malmö as producers shake things up in an effort to drive engagement and make a more entertaining show.
Here’s how the EBU describes it:
“On Saturday 11 May, voting will open just before the first song is performed.”
“Viewers at home 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).”
There are also changes to the Rest of the World vote.
“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 begins.”
“Online voting will open for the Rest of The World immediately after the second dress rehearsal for each Semi-Final and Grand Final finishes the previous night and stays open until the live shows begin.”
Executive Producer Ebba Adielsson explained the changes this way:
“Voting in the Grand 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 of the show – 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.”
“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 more opportunity to participate in the result. Now they don’t have to set an alarm clock in the middle of the night!”
Eurovision boss Martin Österdahl thinks it’ll add extra spice to the show.
“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!”
A few hours after today’s announcement, Sweden was randomly drawn to open the grand final.
Organisers have also teased “another big change for Malmö 2024” that will be announced soon.
No changes to jury voting
But there will be no changes to the jury system.
“National juries in each participating country will still only vote in the Grand Final (making up nearly 50% of the final result with just over 50% coming from public votes) – and the Top 10 qualifiers from each Semi-Final will be decided by public votes alone.”
“There’ll be no change in the presentation of the results in both the Semi-Finals and Grand Final too. “
Ok people get over yourselves. Firstly some of you are employing a racist negativity towards Sweden. This is not about one country this is about 37 countries agreeing to the changes. We’ll only know whether this works if we try it. I have been led to believe that this is not an SVT promoted change but comes from a number of broadcasters. Ultimately it is probably a commercial decision and don’t be naive in thinking that is some kind of charitable organisation. There are at least two advantages. It will be easier to vote for multiple entries and there is… Read more »
1. It’s not a decision of 37 countries, that’s simply not how the process work. Reference group only has few members. (At the same time it’s not Sweden’s decision of course.)
2. “Commercial decision”? Are you aware that EBU is an association of public broadcasters, not commercial broadcasters?
This is the current reference group: Chairperson Bakel Walden (SSR SRG) Members Ebba Adielsson (SVT) Rachel Ashdown (BBC) Felix Bergsson (RÚV) Ana Maria Bordas (RTVE) Carla Bugalho (RTP) Claudio Fasulo (RAI) Simona Martorelli (RAI) Tomislav Stengl (HRT) Alexandra Wolfslast (NDR) Martin Österdahl (EBU) As you can see there are one from Sweden. One from UK. One from Iceland. The Executive Supervisor from Sweden. Usually the Nordics plus UK are always on the same side. The two from Italy, probably, count for only one vote, but I am not sure. I don’t know if the chairperson (from Switzerland) votes. If they… Read more »
I am sorry but this was already attempted in 2010 and 2011 so we know it didn’t work and that’s why they changed it back to the original rules! Just how exactly is it fair for countries that perform last? It’s only fair to start voting just after everyone performed!! Change the rules now because Sweden got 1st place in the running order at the final makes me laugh so hard! Honestly this contest is becoming more and more joke with all these Swedish producers changing the rules every now and then the way they want it!! Thank God we… Read more »
This is not a change that demonstrates equity. I’m concerned about the voting, in particular, the rest of the world vote given 24 hours, when people have not even seen the live performance. This will be the political and diaspora affiliation as last year. We saw this with the Albanian team doing so well in the semi-final with the rest of the world vote, In the final the ROTW vote obviously will go to Israel because of the large diaspora and global connection and this was demonstrated in the final last year. The EBU says it’s a 50:50 split of… Read more »
They will have had the opportunity to see all the songs and performances. Everyone- including the big five – are performing in full at the semi finals
The 24 hour voting window for the rest of the world vote is only for the grand final because it’s assuming that they will have seen all performances in the semi finals including the big five in Sweden. Since I live in America, I’ll give it a test drive and see how it works.
ROTW voting before the start of the show is also for the Semifinals.
With the LGBT being such a progressive demographic, it seems they’re very conservative when it comes to ESC… interesting…
Not all change is progress.
I don’t get it, too. Some people act like their life depends on never changing rules at Eurovision. That’s problematic.
Indeed. If that’s their biggest worry in the world I would suggest therapy.
Very bad change. Not the worst decision the organizers have made this week, but certainly not good.
Hey did that Joker guy write every single song at Melfest??
What is crazy is that the rest of the world can vote songs indipendently of the performance in the final of any singer. A singer can bark like a dog instead of singing in the final, and still the vote he got in the prior 24 hours are valid. Crazy!
Its the same in Europa. People wote for a country,not the song
So why do we bother to select a song? We could just vote for flags. That’s crazy. Maybe not for everybody is the same, but when I watch a music/song contest is to find the best song. Not the best country.
I think the decision is correct and that is why the Big 5 will perform in the semifinals. It must be taken into account that because of the time difference there are people who cannot watch the final live, 4 or 5 am is not a good time. These countries will be able to watch the semi-finals on a delayed basis where all countries will participate this year and thus be able to make a more fair decision. In my opinion, I think that this way the balance is more balanced and everything is fairer.
But the new rule also applies to semifinals. You will be able to vote for a song before it even performed in the semi.
Sorry. Let’s imagine a singer performs well in the semis. The RotW will vote for it in the 24 hours before the final. Then, during the final, that same singer doesn’t catch one note right. It happened to Italy in 2022. Mahmood and Blanco sang well i n the Jury Show on friday evening and badly on the final, probably due to emotional pressure. They were sunk by televote. In this crazy scheme invented by SVT we will have Europe voting badly for that singer while RotW will cast a more positive vote. Can you tell me how this is… Read more »
I really dislike this. This is not (or should not be) a commercial outfit that needs the televoting income the whole broadcast.
Ugh… SVT are the most annoying organisation. Steeped in arrogance. We. Do. Not. Want. An. International. Melodifestivalen. Go. Away.
SVT have nothing to do whit this. Its EBU
EBU, or better, Reference Group, is managed by an ex SVT Producer, Martin Osterdahl.
Yes, but hes not the only person who work ther
Of course. But having the leader makes it simpler for SVT to influence things. Never, I repeat, NEVER EBU has informed is on who voted and who rejected the proposals.
What’s next, Mr Martin Erdogan aka Österdahl? Are you going to ban journalists? You’ve already restricted their income from live streams and their access to the press room. Every single year this gentleman is a party pooper.
Independent from this change in the rule, host country would be out of top10 or top15 with this bland and average song.
I don’t think so.
Sweden really dominate every facet of this contest don’t they?
Everytime they host they do something to the rules.
As much as I love Loreen and as much as I still listen to tattoo I think Sweden needs a break from winning and hosting this competition for a while.
Total crap!!
SVT proposes changes, but it cannot make them by itself.
The same for Ukraine. It was always 6 year between ther victory, and 8 years between Sweden.
What a coincidence that this is introduced when Sweden is performing #1 in the Grand Final. Starting with producer decided running order and now this. Sorry – I’m shocked that there is no one who can disagree with this.
Other broadcasters could have disagreed with this but they haven’t. So your statement isn’t true.
SVT has a rock solid panel of followers. The Nordics, plus UK, Ireland and Australia, always are side to side. Don’t think it’s possible to have different opinions there.
I agree so much with your comment!! Totally on spot, exactly what I thought before I read it! Hopefully this contest will go back to what it was.. one day… I hope!!! Enough Sweden!!
Closer to Ikeavision than ever
Omg, calm down! These changes actually make sense, as it has apparently been established that acts with a low starting number systematically receive fewer points. Letting the voting start right from the beginning should probably work against this. I wasn’t a fan of it the first time in 2010/11, but if it helps to reduce the imbalance, you can try it again. To accuse SVT of cheating by giving themselves starting number 1 is just absurd. Most viewers won’t make use of the option to vote immediately anyway, as they don’t know the other acts yet and don’t want to… Read more »
They want a more entertaining show!? The problem with the show is that it’s become far too entertaining…
How so?
Flag parades, endless interval acts, endless recaps, zooming in on singers’ faces to see how they will handle their zero points from televote, just to name a few.
Endless intervals acts and recaps are the opposite of entertaining in my opinion. Flag parades would be fine if they are quick and don’t pause in between participants. The reactions to the televotes are the most entertaining though.
Humiliating, I’d say.
Be interesting to see if EBU publish the stars so you can see how many ROTW votes were registered before the GF starts.
So voting from the start of the show and by an amazing coincidences serial cheats Sweden get drawn first. What are the odds?
Precisely how does Sweden cheat? Evidence please.
Changing rules that suit them and not changing ungair rules that don’t. So this year rigging the televote as above in the knowledge that the juries will vote for them big time as they do every year and kill off popular choices like Croatia and Switzerland, propelling a nothing song to a probable consecutive victory. Just like the juries killed the chances of Norway, Moldova and Finland in recent years.
Not forgetting Italy 2015. Mans won thanks to juries. Juries ALWAYS favours Sweden. Rarely, not even with Loreen in 2023, won the televote. So Sweden has to amend the rules in order to win it an 8th time. Very greedy.
Televote ALWAYS favours Italy… you don’t complain? Why?
Televote favours Italy? It happened only twice. With Il Volo and Måneskin.
Twice? Every single year you must say.
Every single year???? Are you crazy? If Italy being in the top 10 of televote is not someone favoring Italy. It’s just that for most part of times Italy brings songs that are palatable to a latge audience. Plus, there is the italian language who is appreciated by a lot of people.
Maybe because Italy is actually good every year, send something authentic and always serve quality?? Whereas Sweden is always cheap pop songs that nobody listens to anymore nowadays!! Those days are over!! Can’t wait to hear Sweden getting nil points this year from televoting… exactly what they deserve!
Right. How many times Italy has brought cheap pop like the Swedish one? How many times Italy has won thanks to the props or staging and not for the quality of the song? How many times Italy has brought a song in english because, like Sweden, we are not ashamed of our language and don’t give a f**k in having a song that is palatable to a worldwide english speaking audience but we stick to our linguistic and musical tradition? How many different music styles has Sweden brought compared to Italy? How many cheesy and bland pop songs like the… Read more »
Heroes had great staging though, and was a really catchy song. I can still remember what it looked like when performed, which is a testament to how memorable it was. You’d be hard pressed to deny that.
Heroes was indeed original. At least it was when David Gietta wrote it and called it “Lovers on the Sun”
FFS That not evidence just rambling nonsense. Dear God grow up and stop spouting trmpian conspiracy theories. If you don’t like it don’t f’n watch it.
That’s and Trumpian
I’ll watch what I like and express opinions on anything I like. If you don’t like it don’t read it and just bore off
Right back at you. But in whatever circumstance I will not accept statements with no basis in evidentiary fact with commenting.
It only mentions that lines will open from the start for the grand final, as far as I could read. Does that also mean the same for both semis?
As a Asian viewer, I approve.
As a rest of the world voter from NZ I am devastated to think that we will not be able to vote as part of the live show! I’ve had no trouble setting my alarm to watch live for many years and my whole family enjoys judging the acts based on their performances on the night (which has often been very different to our initial feelings from the pre-released versions from the Eurovision YouTube channel). I seriously hope they reconsider and allow the ROTW vote to close at the same time as the competing countries.
What makes you think RoTW won’t be able to vote during the show? The voting will OPEN earlier, but it will close at the same time as everyone else.
Hating against Sweden in this contest (not the artists themselves) has been justified since they took complete control of how things run in the early 2010s.
What absolute tosh. SVT doesn’t run the EBU the member broadcasters do. Major decisions regarding changes have to be approved by all participating broadcasters. If you don’t like them then complain to your participating TV channel.
BS
Obviously you have educated yourself.
Really you have some inside knowledge of EBU meetings the rest of us are not privy yo?
I really hope this shortens the interval act. It’s stretched to nearly and hour. I thought one reason for the separation of jury and television votes was to allow time to collate the phone votes and shorten the process.
I totally agree
Which would mean Sweden gets hours of televoting while whoever performs last gets minutes?
You can wote for them from the beginning. You dont be angry if Italy or Ukraine would start as nr 1
SVT said early on that they aim to make the broadcast shorter as it has grown out of proportions in later years. This voting system can hopefully help with that.
Personally I agree with the fact to let people voting during the entire show, I agree with the big 5 performing live during the semi- finals, I strongly disagree about ROTW voting. On what they will base their votes if the live show has not even started…I don’t get it, they will vote based on a music video or only a studio track? In Eurovision you vote for a live performance, a total package not only a studio track or a music video…it feels too weird to me. Mainly for the semi finals in fact cause before the semi you… Read more »
I would add, the aim was to have ROTW involved in Eurovision and for that they could, as the Europeans, vote during the show, for the same live performances as the europeans, but the fact to make them vote before and differently than the europeans feels excluding to me.
I don’t necessarily oppose it, but it does change the entire prepartion, media penetration, promotion in the weeks running up to the showz which is now essential. ‘Vote for the prepared video vs. vote for the performance’. That, for me, is the biggest pressure point , especially for smaller artists, or those who find it harder to generate a buzz (in a sea of 36).
That’s a huge change for the competitor. Maybe this should have been made know earlier?
music videos vs live performances are something totally different for sure that’s why it doesn’t make sense, but I read more informations and the application window for the Rotw voting will appear only after the semi finals jury shows/dress rehearsals, so it means they will probably use videos of the live performances from these shows, which makes more sense, in fact Rotw will vote as everybody vote in the jesc before the show, based on a recap video of the live performances.
Why are they changing everything except what the people really want? Euro fans and casual viewers alike have been demanding an expansion of the jury panel for a decade now, and yet they insist on all these meaningless changes.
Also I don’t get the change to ROTW vote, so they can vote during the 24hs before the show but NOT during the show itself like European viewers?
And another step in the Melodifestivalen-ication of the contest. Within 10 years I predict that the same five or six Swedes will have songwriting credits for multiple finalists
And the difference from now is….?
I’m curious to see how this affects the “fairness” of voting. Will this help with the recency effect favoring later acts? Or will it overcorrect and give earlier acts an unfair advantage?
You can review the 2010 and 2011 results to see how this will impact the voting results.
Just say u want more money from the votes. No need to sugar coat it.
I assume you can still only vote 20 times
They say “every song will have been performed once by the time the Final starts as justification for the voting opening then. Unless something is changing, this isn’t true. The big 5, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and UK dont perform in the semifinals so must be at a disadvantage as their song won’t have been performed in full already.
Thats another change mentioned in the article.
The Big 5 also perform on the evenings of the semis.
Thats a good change.
It would only make sense if they wouldn’t be automatic qualifiers, which would be faire.
But thats just one of many veilnesses of the EBU show.
Ah, yes. you are right.
Off topic: guys, did you enjoy William’s book? I absolutely adored it. This book is a proper PHD disertation. There’s a lot of information, wisdom and humanity. Do you agree?
Yes, of course. It is deeply personal, and touching in many ways. Much of William’s life I already knew about before reading the book, but reading the story in his own words and in a single narrative was a more personal experience and connected me even more. I learned a little about Vietnam and Harvard, which I knew next to nothing about before reading the book. There are also lots of name-drops and anecdotes. For me it was awkward reading about Romania National Selection 2019 in particular, remembering how unsupportive some of us were. I didn’t know about how bad… Read more »
I couldn’t agree more. x
PHD disertations are meant to be scientific. Not a (subjective) documentary.
Sorry that you don’t know anything about science.
Let’s be honest and clever.. it’s just to have more sms and calls …so more money …
Relax. Whatever changes they make, nothing is ever going to be worse than the scare we got from the idea of bringing the participants on stage to film their reaction to the results. I didn’t dream that, right?
Actually it is quite unfortunate. Every year I organise an ESC party, inviting people who are not part of the Eurovision fanbase. Usually they have a drink, a laugh, and they vote for the craziest performances. They have a good time. I don’t like the idea of having to vote for my favourites during their performances, instead of enjoying the party/show. I think many possible votes could be lost.
Goths all over the world and non binary people will propel Bambi Thug to No 1 what will people do ? ????
Why only them? I’ll vote for it because it’s the best song
SVT had been too slow to come out with their nonsense this year, ugh
Long overdue. This voting format has been tested in various shows and is fairer. Even when televoting opens before the show begins the entries at the end has a significant advantage.
How do entries at the end have a SIGNIFICANT advantage? Or any advantage for that matter. Do elaborate.
But hey… Let’s continue to go as zombie as possible screaming : “Melodiiii is amaaazzziiiiinng!! SVT!!!! Perfect…slay slay guuuurl”
Enough!
Sweden is EBU at this point and it’s ruining ESC!
Excuse me? This is not tweaking ESC, this is fundamentally changing it. We have no slogan, no logo, a voting change that rocks the system, what else are they going to do? I am in favour of change but wtf is this all about?
Add to this the whole Israel mess…er voila! The dystopia has entered the ESS realm.
Voting lines being open for 24 hours to add to the list. They say it’s for the RoTW now only, but you know… baby steps.
So the Rest of the World has to vote Before the show begins? ‘Because then they dont have to set their alarm clock” they say. Weird. If the alarm clock would be the reason then they could let the RoW vote Before and During the show. Its strange to stop the voting for the RoW at the moment the show begins. Most people see the performances just one time on tv. Many viewers in RoW would think it would be the same as previous years, turn on the tv and then find out they can not vote. People in Romania,… Read more »
This is actually such a garbage change for the rest of the world. The fun of us voting is us voting DURING the show like the rest of Europe does.
But you know what. In the midst of all the confusion this will inevitably cause, the EBU can earn less money from the rotw compared to last year as a consequence for this making no sense at all.
It does kinda minimise the purpose of judging the ‘live, on the night’ performance, and brings a lot of focus on the ‘video’ of the tracks in the weeks and months leading up to the competition… or maybe it’s a ‘fandom’ problem… I guess a very large proportion of ESC viewers have little or no knowledge of the vast majority of songs. In turn, the pre-promotion of an entry becomes more important. It does open a can of worm, and big budget competitors may have an advantage. Guess we’ll find out. The data from the competition will be interesting to… Read more »
It’s tolerable for the Junior contest, but NOT for this.
(And not just the total numbers, but the timing of ‘when’ votes are made… Before a performance vs. during/after.)
So basically 2 new advantages for Sweden. And Sweden fans don’t see why the fandom is so anti- Sweden? Really?
As for Sweden’s entry this year, the staging is so good that I don’t even pay any attention to the weak song or to M&M. What else is new. So I’ve officially made my decision to not vote for them. Enough is enough.
Same here.
The arrogance of changing the rules each time Eurovision goes through Sweden. Crazy. And all the other national broadcaster who don’t even complain. EBU is not a democracy. Now I understand why they want to push dictatorships out of EBU. They don’t want internal competition. PS: of course I am favorable to have Russia and Bielorussia out of Eurovision and EBU.
I am really in shock over this.
This is an entertainment equivalent of terrorism.
Starting the vote as early as the first song performed is probably the way the Swedish broadcaster intends to hold his promise of reducing the Grand Final under 4 hours. Let’s see how it affects the voting, I can deal with that. On the other hand, I strongly hope the “extra big change” won’t turn into a bad surprise like a superfinal between top 5 or top 3 songs of the scoreboard. I understand the need to keep public untertained and involved in Eurovision but changing the rules almost every year since 2021 (prerecorded backing, 100% televote semis, ROW voting,… Read more »
Well bringing back an orchestra would make the production even more expensive and that would increase the participation fees even more. Orchestras are not free… And in these days they would have to practice way more songs than what they did back in the old days.
The Sanremo orchestra can do it.
And the FiK orchestra too!
The organization of Sanremo is for sure not as expensive at it is to organise Eurovision though, also the participants in Sanremo don’t have to pay a participation fee…. it is not all about if they can or not learn the songs, but it would increase time for practicing a lot…i am sure they could learn, but it would all.make everything so much more expensive…and the original post was about how to decrease the cost of participation to bring other nations back.
They could cut at least 30-45 minutes just by cutting the inane banter. Sure, some is necessary to create time to reset the stage between acts, but there is a lot elsewhere as well. Does the interval need to be so long with modern telephone/computer technology in place?
The change I want to see is for all vocals to be live again. Period.
This is pathetic! Can see Mr Björkman is in the lead again!
Sweden starting first … Some observatios: a) A quick flashback-cucu to 1984 … b) A clear statement that they don’t want to win this again … which after what happened last year, it’s a wise move if you don’t want everybody to gang against you … and the Cha cha cha effect is very present in some of the entries this year … c) It’s all about celebrating ABBA d) SVT will have a lot of sleepless nights due to Israel during the week … Moral of the story: celebrate ABBA but next time think twice before wanting to win… Read more »
you understand it was a random draw right?
WOW the Swedes turning ESC into Melfest. Congrats.
Amazing coincidence they are also opening the show.
Quick someone, give me a bucket!
How can this change be good. Not Everybody is a eurovision fandom and knows the songs, ussually people Watch Only the Final and last performances have dissadvatage. This voting is not fair, not based on qualify of songs.
Well you can argue those who performed first had a disadvantage for the last 67 or whatever years it has been.
How can you vote for something that you didnt hear yet. You Only get 20 votes per phone num.and that could last till maybe 10th song. So the winner will be probebly jury winner.
Idk why rest of the European delegation are silent on this complete hijacking of Eurovision by Swedes.
The rest of the world can play the game like everyone else, or else fcuk off. With respect.
Utterly ridiculous to spend millions and millions on a high quality broadcast only for it to not matter at all.
Worth keeping in mind that the ROW vote is equivalent to one country’s votes, so ROW can’t make a huge impact on the final results.
Still… 58 points. Like with the Sam Marino algorithm, would you be happy if these points one day decide the winner?
Like 2019. The jury winner was literally decided by fake robotic points. If that had Ben 1956 – 1996, North Macedonia would have won the whole contest.
58 points from ROTW spread over 10 countries.
Max. 12 points only for a country. That’s not much, like jercle said.
San Marino votes come from a population of only 33.000 people.
The rest of the world votes come from the populations of 107 countries!!
ROTW made an impact last year for the 3rd place of Israel over Italy.
We never know
There are many more Italo-Americans and also South-Americans who watch San Remo Festival and Eurovision.
Now I won’t vote since RoW won’t have the chance to do it live. I don’t pretend to vote without seeing the whole performance or spoil the shows watching the whole rehearsal first. I really dislike every time Sweden hosts, pure nonsense dynamics.
Future change : running order for the host country will be decided by the producers like the others lol.