Yahoo News Why the UK is performing in the Eurovision semi-finals
This week will see the 68th Eurovision Song Contest take place in Malmö, Sweden, following Loreen’s historic second win twelve months ago. This year, the United Kingdom is represented by Years & Years singer and It’s A Sin star Olly Alexander and his pop hit ‘Dizzy’.
In case you weren’t aware, Eurovision is a week-long affair, with two semi-finals turning 37 competing countries into the 26 who will take part in the Grand Final on the Saturday night.
But the UK never has to worry about this. Alongside Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, they are part of the ‘Big Five’: the highest-paying members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). As a result, these countries always automatically qualify for the final, alongside last year’s winning country. After all, surely it’s only fair that the host nation gets to participate in their own contest?
Therefore, the UK is always in the mix when it comes to the big final, regardless of where on the board they end up on the night.
But while the semi-finals aren’t a concern in this country, they have become more of a spectacle after the UK hosted the contest on behalf of Ukraine last year. This increased interest in the build-up to Saturday’s final means that this year, both semi-finals are staying on BBC One, after airing on BBC Three or Four in years gone by.
And there is even more incentive for UK viewers to get involved this year, as in a change to the contest, the six automatic qualifiers will be performing live during the semi-finals for the very first time.
This change was announced back in March by the Swedish broadcaster SVT, and Ebba Adielsson, executive producer of this year’s contest, said: "We think that this change gives the Big Five countries and the host country a fairer playing field in the Grand Final, as they now have the opportunity to perform ‘for real’ on stage in the semi-finals.
"It is also a win for both the audience in the arena and the viewers at home, in that they get to see all the acts competing this year live before the Grand Final."
Eurovision’s executive supervisor, Martin Österdahl, added: "Finally we get to see Europe’s largest countries and the hosts perform their songs in full in the semi-finals, meaning there’s even more entertainment for fans and viewers and, like all the qualifiers, the Big Five and host country now get to perform their songs live twice on the Eurovision stage."
So while the UK thankfully still has that guaranteed spot in the final, Olly will be slotted into the running order in tonight’s first semi-final (May 7) along with Germany’s Isaak and host Sweden’s Marcus and Martinus.
Then during the second semi-final on Thursday, May 9, Spain’s Nebulossa, Italy’s Angelina Mango and France’s Slimane will all perform live, alongside a line-up of acts who are hoping to join them in the big final.
Fittingly, in tonight's first semi-final, the UK will perform just after neighbours Ireland, who, despite a record seven Eurovision wins, are aiming for their first qualification since 2018.
Non-binary artist Bambie Thug is bringing their own brand of ‘ouija pop’ to the Eurovision stage with their song ‘Doomsday Blue’ and with a lot of hype building around their show-stopping performance, it looks likely that Ireland's unlucky streak will be broken this evening.
Meanwhile, the UK delegation has arrived in Malmö with some incredibly innovative and ambitious staging that is sure to stand out in the final. While an exciting snippet has been released online in the last few days, tonight’s semi-final will be the first chance to see Olly’s performance in full and is not to be missed.
So even if you have never watched a Eurovision semi-final before, why not start the fun before Saturday?
The semi-finals of the Eurovision Song Contest will air on Tuesday, May 7 and Thursday, May 9 at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, with the Grand Final on Saturday, May 11.
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