Your guide to Eurovision 2025

Jill Lawless · The Associated Press

· Posted: Apr 28, 2025 4:08 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Get retired the glitter balls, sew connected the sequins and hole to party: The Eurovision Song Contest approaches.

The 69th yearly philharmonic extravaganza takes spot successful Basel, Switzerland successful May. It volition spot acts from 37 countries vie for the continent's philharmonic crown successful a contention that has been likened to a popular Olympics, implicit with triumph, tears and geopolitical rivalries.

Here's a usher to the fantastic satellite of Eurovision. 

What is Eurovision?

Eurovision is an planetary popular euphony competition, successful which acts from countries crossed Europe — and a fewer beyond —compete successful a unrecorded televised singing contest. Each vocalist oregon radical performs a three-minute song, with the victor decided by votes from nationalist juries and viewers astir the world.

Launched successful 1956 to trial caller live-broadcasting exertion and foster unity aft the Second World War, Eurovision has go a campy yet heartfelt solemnisation of diversity, nationalist pridefulness and the joyous powerfulness of pop.

It has grown from 7 countries to astir 40, including non-European nations specified arsenic Israel and Australia. Organizers accidental past year's contention was watched by 163 cardinal radical astir the world.

Eurovision has go synonymous with elaborate costumes, spectacular staging and songs that scope from anthemic to highly silly. Past winners see songs with titles similar La, La, La and Boom Bang-a-Bang, as good arsenic soaring powerfulness ballads and slick disco dancefloor-fillers.

Past champions scope from Sweden's Abba — with Waterloo in 1974 — to Finnish metalheads Lordi successful 2006, Austrian resistance performer Conchita Wurst successful 2014, Italian stone set Måneskin successful 2021 and Ukrainian folk-rap radical Kalush Orchestra successful 2022.

When and wherever is Eurovision taking place?

Traditionally, the contention is hosted by the erstwhile year's winner, and the 2024 victor was non-binary Swiss vocalist Nemo with their operatic anthem The Code. The 2025 contention volition beryllium held astatine the St. Jakobshalle arena successful Basel, a mostly German-speaking metropolis bordering France and Germany.

Two semifinals, connected May 13 and 15, volition beryllium followed by a expansive Saturday nighttime last connected May 17, hosted by Swiss broadcasters Hazel Brugger, Michelle Hunziker and Sandra Studer.

Switzerland is the birthplace of Eurovision — it staged the first-ever contest, and the European Broadcasting Union, which runs the show, is based successful Geneva. It has won doubly before: successful 1956 and successful 1988, erstwhile Canadian chanteuse Céline Dion competed nether the Swiss flag.

Do popular and authorities mix?

Eurovision's motto is "united by music," an admirable extremity that's not ever achieved.

Contest rules prohibition overtly governmental lyrics oregon symbols, but determination rivalries are rife and planetary tensions often intrude. Russia has been banned since its 2022 penetration of Ukraine. Ukraine won Eurovision that year, but could not big successful 2023 due to the fact that of the ongoing war, truthful the English metropolis of Liverpool stood in.

Last year's lawsuit successful the Swedish metropolis of Malmö attracted ample pro-Palestinian protests that called for Israel to beryllium dropped from the contention implicit the country's conduct during its warfare against Hamas.

Tensions spilled implicit into the competition, wherever Israeli vocalist Eden Golan was fixed choky security.

Israel was also ordered to alteration the lyrics of its competing song, primitively titled October Rain, an evident notation to the Hamas-led attack connected Israel that took spot connected Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Renamed Hurricane, the powerfulness ballad came fifth.

Last year's contention besides saw Dutch contender Joost Klein expelled mid-competition aft an altercation with a subordinate of the accumulation crew.

Organizers person tightened up the contest's codification of conduct, calling connected participants to respect Eurovision's values of "universality, diversity, equality and inclusivity" and its governmental neutrality.

Who are this year's favourites?

Sweden has won Eurovision 7 times and is the favourite by bookies to instrumentality the rubric again, which would instrumentality it past Ireland for the astir victories. Swedish introduction Bara Bada Bastu is an upbeat ode to sauna civilization performed by KAJ, a trio from Finland's Swedish-speaking minority.

Also highly ranked by the betting markets are classically-trained Austrian vocalist JJ's "popera" opus Wasted Love, French vocalist Louane's ballad maman, Dutch introduction Claude's C'est La Vie and Israeli vocalist Yuval Raphael, a subsister of the Oct. 7 attacks, with New Day Will Rise.

Intriguing outsiders see highly caffeinated Estonian introduction Espresso Macchiato by Tony Cash, Icelandic member duo VAEB with Roa — it's astir rowing — and Irish entrant Emmy's ode to a doomed abstraction dog, Laika Party.

"There's a batch of novelty acts this year," said Paul Jordan, an adept connected the contention known arsenic Dr. Eurovision. "I deliberation it's benignant of reflective of the chaos successful the world. It's astir similar radical are looking for a spot of escapism.

"There's a batch of innuendo this twelvemonth arsenic well," helium said, citing Milkshake Man by Australian entrant Go-Jo and Serving by Malta's Miriana Conte, which has already had its rubric and lyrics changed connected the orders of contention organizers.

WATCH | What it truly takes to triumph Eurovision: 

How tin I ticker Eurovision and vote?

The contention volition beryllium aired by nationalist broadcasters successful participating nations, connected streaming work Peacock successful the United States and connected the Eurovision YouTube transmission successful immoderate countries. It is often disposable determination to Canadian viewers.

Most of the acts volition execute implicit 2 semifinals that volition determine 20 to spell done to the expansive final. Another six countries — France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K. and big Switzerland — automatically suffice for the final.

Voting for the victor volition unfastened astatine the commencement of the last connected May 17. Viewers successful participating countries tin ballot by phone, substance connection oregon the Eurovision app — but are not allowed to ballot for their ain country's act. Viewers successful the U.S. and different nonparticipating countries tin ballot online oregon with the app.

After a voting interval, each state successful crook announces its assemblage and nationalist voting results, with the points tallied on-screen until a victor emerges. The fast-changing rankings and suspense astir whether immoderate state gets the dreaded "nul points" — zero points — are each portion of the fun.

"Everyone seems to deliberation that Sweden has it successful the bag," Jordan said. "But it could good beryllium that a state sneaks up the middle."