ESCUnited’s complete guide to this weekends national finals – February 3rd

We are set to have a whirlwind of a day today across Europe, as a multitude of countries will begin their selection processes, and we are set to receive four new Eurovision songs.

In case you aren’t keeping up, selections are taking place today in Ukraine, Norway, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, and Spain.

🇺🇦 Ukraine – Vidbir 2024 (17:00 CET)

The process to select Ukraine’s next Eurovision artist began back in September, where a long list of hopefuls was narrowed down to 20, and then to ten finalists.

It was then revealed that they would be adding one more song to the final through an online wildcard process, which would give ANKA a place in the final as the eleventh finalist.

Tonights show will feature the following artists in performance order:

1. YAKTAK — “Lalala”
2. INGRET – “Keeper”
3. NAZVA – “Slavic English”
4. ANKA – “Palala” (Burning)
5. Drevo – “Endless Chain”
6. alyona alyona & Jerry Heil – “Teresa & Maria”
7. MÉLOVIN – “DREAMER”
8. SKYLERR – “Time is Running Out”
9. Ziferblat — “Place I Call Home”
10. YAGODY — “Tsunamia”
11. NAHABA – “GLASSS”

The final will showcase a number of special performances from former Eurovision artists for Ukraine including all three winners – Ruslana, Jamala and Kalush Orchestra. Also set to make an appearance as usual is Ukraine’s JESC 2023 artist Anastasia Dymyd with the song “Kvitka”.

The winner is set to be decided by a combination of jury voting and public televote. The show starts at 17:00 CET and can be viewed on YouTube or the broadcaster’s Eurovision website.

🇳🇴 Norway – Melodi Grand Prix 2024 Final (19:50 CET)

The final of Melodi Grand Prix kicks off at 19:50 CET from the Trondheim Spektrum arena. Tonight’s show will feature nine artists competing for the golden ticket to Eurovision in Malmo.

The artists and running order for the final are as follows:

1. KEiiNO – “Damdiggida”
2. Annprincess – “Save Me”
3. Gothminister – “We Come Alive”
4. Ingrid Jasmin – “Eya”
5. MIIA – “Green Lights”
6. Margaret Berger – “Oblivion”
7. Dag Erik Oksvold and Anne Fagermo – “Judge Tenderly of Me”
8. Gåte – “Ulveham”
9. Erika Norwich and Super Rob – “My AI”

The live show and the online voting can both be accessed via the official MGP website. The winner of tonight’s show will be determined through a public televote that will decide 60% of the result, and a jury vote that will determine the remaining 40%.

🇸🇪 Sweden – Melodifestivalen Heat One (20:00 CET)

The long awaited national final for Eurovision fans is officially upon us, as Melodifestivalen begins its quest to find the host entry for Eurovision 2024.

The heats will now feature a total of six artists compared to last years eight, with two spots in the final on the line. The third and fourth placing songs of each heat will enter a “run-off” round to select another two finalists in place of the andra chansen heat.

The artist competing for two quaranteed spots in the final are:

1. Adam Woods – “Supernatural”
2. Samir & Viktor – “Hela världen väntar”
3. Melina Borglowe – “Min melodi”
4. Elisa Lindström – “Forever Yours”
5. Lisa Ajax – “Awful Liar”
6. Smash Into Pieces – “Heroes Are Calling”

The winners of the direct-to-final tickets will be determined by a televote only process, with the results traditionally being presented by age brackets.

The show will begin at 20:00 CET and can be watched on SVT Play.

🇱🇹 Lithuania – Eurovizija.LT Semi-final Four (20:00 CET)

Lithuanian selection Eurovizija.LT (formerly known as Pabandom iš naujo!) continues this Saturday showcasing another eight artists competing for the jury and public’s favor, with another two qualifying spots on the line.

The semi-final was pre-recorded at LRT Studio in Vilnius in front of a live studio audience. The running order is as follows:

1. Agnė Buškevičiūtė – “Puppeteer”
2. Il Senso – “Time”
3. Kasparas – “Fool”
4. Monika Marija – “Starting Tommorow”
5. Vilija – “Save me”
6. Danielė – “Cold Shower”
7. Martin – “Jigsaw”
8. Hansanova – “Dragons and Rainbows”

The qualifiers will be decided by a 50/50 voting split and will be revealed at the end of the episode.

You can watch the Lithuanian selection live on LRT’s website starting at 20:00 CET or through their YouTube livestream.

🇱🇻 Latvia – Supernova Semi-Final (20:10 CET)

The Latvian national selection Supernova will kick off today, as fifteen artists take to the stage and earn one of ten spots in the final.

The running order for the semi-final will see Eurovision 2017 artist Agnese open the show, and Edvards Strazdiņš close. The full running order will be:

1. Agnese Rakovska – “AI”
2. Patrīcija Spale – “Heaven’s Raining Down On Me”
3. B/H – “Amsterdam”
4. Alekss Silver – “For The Show”
5. Jar of Kings – “Wildfire”
6. St Levića- “Tick-Tock”
7. Sasha Sil – “Love is a Language”
8. Papīra Lidmašīnas – “Mind Breaker”
9. Avéi – “Mine”
10. Ecto – “Outsider”
11. Don – “Hollow”
12. Katrīna Gupalo – “The Cat’s Song”
13. Funkinbiz – “Na Chystu Vodu”
14. Vēstulēs – “Kur?’
15. Edvards Strazdiņš – “Rock n Roll Supernova”

The qualifiers are set to be determined by a jury and televote split process, and will be revealed at the end of the show. The show will begin at 20:10 CET and can be viewed on LTV1.

🇲🇹 Malta – MESC Final (21:00 CET)

The race to find the next Maltese artist for Eurovision continues in Malta after a multi-night PR show and the release of the official revamped versions of the final 12 songs.

The running order was revealed during Thursday’s live show as the following:

1. Janvil – Man
2. Haley Azzopardi – Tell Me That It’s Over
3. Erba’ – Sirena
4. Nathan – Ghost
5. Lisa Gauci – Breath
6. Sarah Bonnici – Loop
7. Greta Tude – Topic (Bla Bla)
8. Miriana Conte – Venom
9. Ryan Hili – Karma
10. Gail Attard – Wild Card
11. Denise Mercieca – Mara
12. Matt Blxck – Banana

Tonight’s winner is set to be decided by a jury and public televote process. The televote opened on February 2nd and will remain open until the end of voting during the live show.

The show will kick off at approximately 21:00 CET and can be viewed live on YouTube or on TVM’s streaming site.

🇪🇸 Spain – Benidorm Fest Final (22:00 CET)

After two intense semi-finals earlier this week, Spain will select their Eurovision artist for 2024 in the Benidorm Fest grand final.

A total of eight artists qualified for the final through their respective semi-finals, with the running order being released Friday morning. The performance order will be:

1. María Peláe – “Remitente“
2. St. Pedro – “Dos extraños (Cuarteto de cuerda)”
3. Agny Fernández – “Sé quién soy”
4. Jorge González – “Caliente”
5. Nebulossa – “Zorra”
6. Sofia Coll – “Here to Stay”
7. Miss Caffeina – “Bla Bla Bla”
8. Almácor – “Brillos platino“

The winner of Benidorm Fest will be determined once again by a three part voting system that gives the expert jury panel a majority say in the result (50%), with the demoscopic jury making up 25% of the result, and the public televote comprising the final 25%.

The show is set to take place at 22:00 CET and can be viewed on RTVE Play.

We hope that #YOU have an exciting time watching these great shows!