Today, SVT and the EBU announced some big changes, which will happen at the 68th Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö.

Firstly, the voting lines in the Grand Final will be open significantly longer than in the past years. In the last years, the lines opened after all the finalists performed their songs. This year, the voting will be open throughout the 26 performances in the Grand Final. This system is not new to the Eurovision Song Contest, however it has not been in place for several years.

The Executive Producer of the Eurovision Song Contest, Ebba Adielsson, gave a statement about this change to eurovision.tv:

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 a better opportunity to participate in the result. Now they don’t have to set an alarm clock in the middle of the night

Furthermore, an even bigger change, that has never existed in the Eurovision Song Contest as such, has been put in place. Ever since 2016, the acts from the Big 5 countries and the host country had a clip of their rehearsal performance shown during the broadcast of the semi-finals. This has now changed, as the EBU confirmed that all the Big 5 countries, as well as the host nation Sweden, will perform live in the semi-finals.

The countries will perform in the semi-final, in which they are entitled to vote, which means the following:

Semi-Final 1:

• Germany
• Sweden
• United Kingdom

Semi-Final 2:

• France
• Italy
• Spain

Ebba Adielsson added on this change:

“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.”

Do you think these changes are a good thing for the Eurovision Song Contest? Let us know your thoughts in the comments and on our social media profiles! @buildingbridgespod

Photo: eurovision.tv