Well, here we are everyone – it’s the big one. Tonight, the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 will take place from the PalaOlimpico arena in Turin, Italy. And what a night it promises to be for the 25 contestants taking part, and the millions watching across Europe, Australia and beyond!
Here’s everything #YOU need to know ahead of the final taking place this evening!
It’s time once again for the Eurovision Song Contest to return to our screens, as the second semi-final of this year’s contest gets underway this evening from the PalaOlimpico in Turin!
Eighteen more acts are set to perform for their countries, but unfortunately only ten can come back for Saturday’s grand final. It’s time to do this all over again!
Participants
Twenty five countries will perform in this year’s grand final; ten qualifiers from each of this week’s semi-finals and the Big Five, who are prequalified every year; France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. As the host nation, Italy, is already pre-qualified as a member of the Big 5, there will be one song fewer in the final than in 2021.
The twenty five competing countries and their songs are;
- CZECH REPUBLIC – We Are Domi – Lights Off
- ROMANIA – WRS – Llámame
- PORTUGAL – Maro – Saudade, saudade
- FINLAND – The Rasmus – Jezebel
- SWITZERLAND – Marius Bear – Boys Do Cry
- FRANCE – Alvan & Ahez – Fulenn
- NORWAY – Subwoolfer – Give That Wolf a Banana
- ARMENIA – Rosa Linn – Snap
- ITALY – Mahmood & Blanco – Brividi
- SPAIN – Chanel – SloMo
- NETHERLANDS – S10 – De Diepte
- UKRAINE – Kalush Orchestra – Stefania
- GERMANY – Malik Harris – Rockstars
- LITHUANIA – Monika Liu – Sentimentai
- AZERBAIJAN – Nadir Rustamli – Fade to Black
- BELGIUM – Jérémie Makiese – Miss You
- GREECE – Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord – Die Together
- ICELAND – Systur – Með hækkandi sól
- MOLDOVA – Zdob și Zdub & Frații Advahov – Trenulețul
- SWEDEN – Cornelia Jakobs – Hold Me Closer
- AUSTRALIA – Sheldon Riley – Not the Same
- UNITED KINGDOM – Sam Ryder – Space Man
- POLAND – Ochman – River
- SERBIA – Konstrakta – In Corpore Sano
- ESTONIA – Stefan – Hope
Who are the favourites?
At the time of writing on Saturday afternoon, Ukraine are the overwhelming betting odds favourites to take home the title with “Stefania”, although much of the betting is likely due to the ongoing crisis within the country. Nevertheless, Ukraine is expected to have a strong finish in this year’s final and remain the favourite to collect a third Eurovision victory.
Second favourite in the odds is Sweden, having moved into second just this afternoon. Cornelia Jakobs was a fan favourite from her victory in Melodifestivalen in March and has impressed with strong vocal performances throughout her time in Turin with “Hold Me Closer”. Cornelia is bidding to bring Sweden’s 7th victory and match Ireland’s record for the number of victories in the competition.
Third in the odds is the United Kingdom, who have high hopes to cast aside their nul points score in Rotterdam in style. Sam Ryder has impressed with strong performances of the mid-tempo pop ballad “Space Man” in rehearsals and represents a strong chance of bringing the UK to the left hand side of the scoreboard for the first time since 2011.
Following from the top three in the odds are Italy, who are hoping to compete the first double victory since Ireland in 1994; Spain, who are hoping to earn their best result since at least 2003; and Serbia as an outside bet to win the contest for the second time.
Poland are the highest rated country to potentially earn a first victory, with Ochman and “River” currently sitting as 7th favourite.
The Show
The final also promises to be an extravaganza outside of the competing entries. The show will open with a performance from The Rockin’ 1000, an ensemble of musicians from Italy who will perform “Give Peace a Chance”, before a rendition of the songs “Benvenuto”, “Io canto”, “La solitudine”, “Le cose che vivi” and “Scatola” by host Laura Pausini. A flag parade will then take place with all 25 acts walking out to applause on the PalaOlimpico stage.
During the interval and voting sequence, reigning Eurovision champions Måneskin will perform their new single “Supermodel” and “If I Can Dream”, a cover of the Elvis Presley song from an upcoming movie soundtrack. Eurovision 1964 winner Gigliola Cinquetti will also perform her winning entry “Non ho l’età”, and host Mika will perform a medley of his greatest hits, including “Love Today”, “Grace Kelly”, “Yo Yo” and “Happy Ending”.
How to watch the contest
There will be a live broadcast of the contest from the official Eurovision Song Contest channel on YouTube from 21:00 CET. Click HERE to watch from this stream. This stream is unavailable in the Czech Republic, Greece and the United States due to geoblocking.
There will also be a live broadcast from the official TikTok account for Eurovision, including additional backstage footage, as part of the EBU’s partnership with the social media company.
All participating countries in this year’s contest, as well as Peacock in the US, will broadcast the final. Click HERE to find out the local details of broadcasts in your country.
ESC United coverage
Make sure to stay tuned to ESC United as we bring #YOU all of the coverage surrounding the live show. Matt will be live from the press centre with a pre-show before the final, and then immediately after the results are announced for all of the reaction as it happens.
#YOU can follow the live streams on YouTube HERE or on Twitch HERE.
