What You Need To Know Before The Eurovision Grand Final

Hannah Waddingham, who stars in the award-winning series Ted Lasso, told viewers who had tuned in for the first semifinal round of The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest on Tuesday to, “Strap in because you are about to get quite a ride!”

Then, Waddingham opened the second semifinal round on Thursday by comparing the frenzy over the singing competition to the World Cup, saying that just like the famed football event, Eurovision has “passionate fans, a whole lot of singing, and no doubt some hot pants shorter that Rinaldo’s.”

Waddingham along with British singer Alesha Dixon and Ukrainian rock star Julia Sanina are the on-air hosts of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. The Grand Final of this year’s The Eurovision Song Contest will take place at 3pm ET/12PT. The competition can be viewed on the Eurovision YouTube Channel and will stream exclusively live and on demand on Peacock.

One year ago, the winner of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest was the Ukraine, with the song “Stefania,” performed by the Kalush Orchestra.

Normally, the winning country would host the following year’s competition, but due to the ongoing war in the Ukraine, Liverpool in the U.K. was chosen to step in to host the competition, on behalf of Ukraine. The last time the U.K. hosted was in 1998.

For those unfamiliar with Eurovision, here’s a quick reference guide, but, basically, European countries, and a few outliers, back specific artists who perform in the hopes of winning the competition, with the winning country home a trophy along with a healthy dose of pride.

Every year, there are three live broadcasts — two semi-finals and the grand final. The winners of the semi-finals are determined via voting by viewers, while the winner of the grand final is selected by a combination the public vote, along with a jury vote as each country impanels a group of professionals who rank the acts.

While viewers cannot vote for their own country, for the first time in 2023, viewers from all countries can vote, not just those from a participating country. This includes the United States.

One caveat is that five countries, referred to as “The Big Five,” (whose who are the biggest financial supporters of the contest) are given guaranteed slots in the final, along with the previous year’s winner. These countries include France, Italy, Germany, Spain and the U.K.

In all, 37 countries competed this year, with the semi-finals narrowing the field to 26 performers who take the stage again in the final.

The Eurovision Song Contest has a rich history as its considered to have launched the careers of acts including ABBA and Celine Dion, among others.

It began in 1956 and was originally conceived as an experiment in transnational broadcasting, with the idea based on an Italian musical festival.

To date, over 1600 songs representing 52 countries have been performed on the Eurovision stage.

What makes the competition so unique is that while it’s about the songs, Eurovision is also about theatrics. Each live show is like a two hour long Super Bowl half-time show, with oodles of sparklers, fog, and fire, amid other showy elements.

The staging of each act is high octane if that’s what’s called for, or includes steady cam intimate shots if needed, with the songs being sung in a variety of languages by singles or groups.

Even the interstitial elements between the acts are well thought out. Used to highlight the countries participating, they’re filled with arty, lush drone shots of vividly colored landscapes, unique landmarks, and sandy shorelines — a travelogue of sorts that makes for perfect picturesque transitions from one song to the next.

And while there are hosts, the shows are very much about the music, with an almost wall-to-wall broadcast of song after song.

Also, of note, is that it’s not just the performance artists who get credit, the musicians and lyricists get their due as well with on-screen recognition at the beginning of each song.

All of these elements combine perfectly to fit the theme of the competition: United by Music.

Eurovision is so popular that oddsmakers even weigh in, trying to predict the outcome.

Songs range from the dark, haunting “Samo Mi Se Spava” performed by Luke Black, to Australia’s “Voyager,” performed by Promise, which feels reminiscent of an ‘80s hair band with a tune that’s part rock ballad, part heavy metal.

The artist Loreen, who represents Sweden and who won Eurovision in 2012 with “Euphoria” has returned to the grand final this year with “Tattoo.” Euphoria topped the charts in numerous European countries after winning.

Even eliminated songs are worth a listen, including rapping folk duo from Azerbaijan TuranTuranX with “Tell Me More,” Ireland’s entry “We Are One” by Wild Youth, and The Busker from Malta with “Dance (Our Own Party).”

All official song videos of artists competing in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest are available for viewing on YouTube. (Note: Live performance videos from the on-air broadcast are not currently available in the U.S.)

New this year in the U.S., streaming service Peacock will host a special Watch With Live event during the Grand Final. It will be hosted by Eurovision superfan Johnny Weir using innovative technology that lets fans interact and ask Weir questions during the stream. Weir is a two-time Olympian and serves as a figure skating analyst for NBC Sports.

Last year, the United States staged their own version of Eurovision with The American Song Contest, staging a competition with all 50 states, five territories, as well as Washington, D.C. The contest was won by the state of Oklahoma, which was represented by the song “Wonderland,” performed by AleXa.