Why do we have the Eurovision semi-finals and can you vote in them?-Caroline Westbrook and Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro

Olly Alexander will be heading straight to the Eurovision Grand Final (Picture: Christine Olsson /TT News Agency / AFP)

Eurovision is just around the corner, with the UK’s entry Olly Alexander set to take to the stage in Malmö, Sweden.

The Years and Years singer, 33, is following in the footsteps of Mae Muller and Sam Ryder, and will be performing his song Dizzy.

He’ll be competing in the 2024 Song Contest’s grand final, alongside members of the ‘Big 5’ of France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, as well as host country Sweden, following Loreen’s incredible win in Liverpool last year.

Only those six countries are already pre-qualified for the main event though, with the line-up being determined by two semi-finals on May 7 and 9, before the final spectacle on Saturday, May 11.

But what happens in a semi-final and why do we have them?

Here’s what you need to know….

Why do we have Eurovision semi-finals?

Eurovision semi-finals were introduced to accommodate the increasing number of countries who wanted to take part.

The number of willing participants began to increase in the 90s following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism across Europe – with many newly independent countries wanting to take part.

They were welcomed into the fold at the 1993 contest, although initially the potential newcomers took part in a pre-qualifying contest which saw the top three progress to the final in Millstreet, Ireland.

Croatia made their debut as an independent nation in 1993 (Picture: Getty Images)

In this instance Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia fought off competition from Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Estonia, and all made their debut that year.

This was replaced the following year by a relegation system which saw the bottom seven countries from the previous year eliminated and forced to sit out proceedings in 1994.

This was then changed again in 1996, to see all contenders except host nation Norway having to undergo a preselection process decided by a jury vote.

When this proved unpopular it was replaced yet again in 1997 – just to confuse matters more by a new relegation system was used which took average points of each country over the previous four years into account.

This continued until the introduction of the semi-final system.

When was the first Eurovision semi-final?

The first ever Eurovision semi-final took place at the 2004 contest – and from then until 2007, only one semi-final took place.

During this time, the 10 highest-scoring countries from the previous year (including the winner and host nation) automatically qualify for the final, along with the ‘Big Four’ nations – France, Germany, the UK and Spain – who automatically get a place in the final as the contest’s biggest financiers.

Ruslana won Ukraine their first Eurovision victory after advancing from the semi-final in 2004 (Picture: Getty Images)

The semi-final would see the top 10 placed countries – chosen by public vote – winning the 10 remaining places in the final.

This was expanded to a two semi-final system in 2008, with the number of pre-qualified countries reduced to the ‘Big Four’ (becoming the ‘ Big Five’ after Italy rejoined the contest in 2011 from a 14-year absence)and the previous year’s winner/host nation.

How do the Eurovision semi-finals work?

The semi-finals take place on Tuesday and Thursday before the grand final. Each of the non-qualified countries performs, and the top 10 from each heat advance to the grand final.

The remaining countries are eliminated from the contest and do not perform again on the Saturday night (although they can still vote in the grand final).

Those who do reach the final are revealed in a random order – with the actual points from the semis only made public after the grand final.

The Song Contest is being held in Sweden after Loreen’s win (Picture: PA)

The line-up for each semi is determined by a World Cup-style allocation draw in January, with all of the countries allocated separate pots -which are seeded to keep countries with a ‘significant history’ of voting for one another apart, thus giving everybody an even chance of making it to the final.

In recent years, the qualifiers have been decided by a mix of jury points and televotes, although the system has been changed this year, with the semis being determined by public vote only, and the jury system only in operation in the final.

Since the start of the semi-finals the contest has enjoyed an influx of new countries who had not previously taken part.

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These include Albania, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Czechia, Serbia, Montenegro (who previously competed as one country in 2004 and 2005), Armenia and Australia.

Most countries who take part in the semi-finals have at some point qualified for a final although some more often than others.

Ukraine remains the only country with a 100% qualification rate, after Australia, the only other nation who had qualified every year, crashed out in the semis in 2021.

Mae Muller is already qualified to the final (Picture: Rex Shutterstock)

To date, Andorra remains the only country to have competed in Eurovision never to have reached the grand final, after failing to qualify from 2004-2009 before dropping out of the contest altogether.

Monaco also failed to qualify from any of the semis they took part in between 2004 and 2006, while Slovakia, who competed from 2009 until 2012, have also missed out.

However both have previously been in the final, having competed in Eurovision before the introduction of the semis.

How does Eurovision voting work?

We know that Eurovision voting can get a bit confusing at times, with juries popping up all over the shop and handing out douze points left right and centre.

It gets even harder to keep up when you add the public votes into the mix.

So to keep things really simple, here’s how it all works.

Basically, the voting in the grand final is split 50/50 between jurors and public, with the jury vote decided upon by a panel of five music industry experts from each of the participating countries.

Sam Ryder was the UK’s entry in 2022 (Picture: PA)

The jurors will each rank their top 10 songs, giving 12 points and 10 points to their top two choices, and the remaining eight tracks points ranging from one to eight.

Nine and 11 points never feature, for reasons which aren’t quite clear…

These points are given out in the first half of the voting during the night of the final, announced by jury representatives who appear on screen.

The second half of the voting consists of announcing the public votes–which once again see the votes from each country broken down into one to eight, 10 and 12 points given for the most popular songs.

In the case of the public vote, the points given to each song are added up into one figure, which is announced in the second half of the voting.

Olly will be performing Dizzy (Picture: Ian West/PA Wire)

Since the public vote is revealed in the order the countries finished in the jury vote, tension builds as the points can change the entire outlook of the scoreboard.

One example of this came when Norway’s fan favourite Spirit In The Sky picked up just 40 points from the juries in 2019 – but won the public vote with a huge 291 points.

They scored more public votes than the Netherlands – the victors that year – and Norway ultimately finished the night in sixth place.

Serbia also benefitted from the public vote in 2022, scoring 87 points from the juries and 225 from televoting to snatch fifth place on the leaderboard.

On the flip side: spare a thought for Switzerland’s Marius Bear, who picked up a respectable 78 points from the juries in 2022, only to end up with a big fat ‘nul points’ from the televote.

Can the UK vote in the Eurovision semi-finals?

The UK does not compete in the semi-finals, as we automatically receive a place in the finals.

We’re part of the ‘Big Five’ – aka the countries who are the biggest financiers of the contest – along with France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

The previous year’s winners and host nation (normally one and the same) also receive an automatic place.

Although the UK does not have to compete at this stage, each of the automatic qualifiers is given the chance to vote in one of the semi-finals – which one is decided in the allocation draw.

This year, the UK is voting in the second semi-final on Thursday, May 11. You’ll be able to vote via phone or text, with details of how to do this revealed on the night.

Alternatively, you’ll be able to vote via the Eurovision Song Contest app.

The Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Finals air on Tuesday, May 7, and Thursday, May 9, at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer. The Grand Final airs on Saturday, May 11, at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

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