The Eurovision Song Contest is widely known for its fiendishly complex voting system.
The 2024 grand final on Saturday (May 11) will involve 26 countries performing a song of their choice.
The UK’s entrant is Olly Alexander, 33, the lead singer of the now-disbanded pop group Years & Years.
Here’s how the voting works for the extravaganza held in Malmo, Sweden — and what’s changed in the voting procedure this year.
How voting works for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024
Viewers from all participating countries will be invited to vote for their favourite songs in Saturday’s final.
Fans can vote by phone, text or through the Eurovision app — which can be downloaded for iOS and Android.
Each person can vote up to 20 times but voters cannot select their country’s entry.
The public votes make up 50 per cent of the total vote, with the other half determined by a professional jury in each participating country.
After viewers have cast their votes, a national spokesperson from the participating countries will be called in to present their professional jury’s points — from the maximum “douze points” (12) to zero.
After the presentation of the scores from the juries, the public points from all participating countries will be combined, providing one score for each song.
What has changed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 voting this year?
Voting at the 2024 grand final will open just before the first song begins. It will remain open during the performances and up to 40 minutes after the final song is performed.
Viewers can also vote for their favourite songs for 24 hours before each semi-final (on Tuesday, May 7, and Thursday, May 9) and the grand final.
People from non-participating countries can vote online and on the app. Their votes will be converted into points with the same weight as one participating country.
Executive producer Ebba Adielsson explained the changes thus: “Voting in the grand final has previously opened when all 26 entries have finished singing. Instead, we want to provide the opportunity to engage the viewers from the start of the show — if you see something you like, you should be able to vote immediately.”
Eurovision’s executive supervisor Martin Österdahl said the changes would add extra spice to the show.
“By the time voting opens for the grand final, every participating song will have been performed on stage so viewers will have had the chance to see all the acts competing to win this year’s show,” he said.
“The Eurovision Song Contest is always evolving and with more performances and chances to vote it promises to be the most exciting edition yet.”
For more information about the voting procedure, click here.
