Eurovision 2024 live: Who will be crowned the Eurovision winner? | Eurovision 2024
Eurovision live blog Bingo 2024!
No live blog is complete without some bingo card suggestions. Of course, if you want to have a shot of drink each time you spot one of these things, you are welcome, but drinking is not compulsory. Instead you can just shout out “Rim Tim Tagi Dim!” or “Ram-di-dam-dam-dam!” or which ever bit of lyrics has got lodged in your brain already. Here are my suggestions …
✨✨✨ A costume change! ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ A keytar! ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ One of the presenters raps! ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Someone says the evening/songs have been “wonderful”! ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ A performance is designed to look great on TV but looks terrible in the hall! ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Unexpected use of the French language! ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ An artist has their dog in their postcard! ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ A painfully high note is delivered! ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ A song includes a middle eight that seems entirely designed to facilitate the choreography! ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Twelve points from Greece to Cyprus! ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ You’re live blogger makes a typo! [THAT’S THE JOKE] ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ A cynical “uplifting” key change right near the end of the song! ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ The wind machine is activated! ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ An overlong pause delivering the “Douze points” when we are already running behind! ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Joanna Lumley! ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Someone presses the button to make fire appear on stage! ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ The boys are bare-chested again! ✨✨✨
Key events
7: 🇱🇹 Lithuania: Silvester Belt – Luktelk
This is song six but actually song number seven. I’m confused. It is bouncy enough pop with a catchy chorus, but it lacks a certain je ne sais quoi. The stark colours of the staging and the dancer costumes recall some kind of 1970s Doctor Who villain with their henchmen. Lithuania have never finished higher than 6th. Could this be the one? *dramatic pause* Probably not.
Silvester Belt and his henchmen for Lithuania Photograph: Jessica Gow/TT/REX/Shutterstock
Israel’s entry Hurricane had to be changed from its original version, titled October Rain, after the European Broadcasting Union objected to the lyrics, which were widely thought to directly reference the Hamas attacks of 7 October.
At the time, Israel’s public broadcaster, KAN, said it would reject any request to alter the words, but later agreed to amend the song after Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s called for “necessary adjustments” to ensure the country could take part.
The original lyrics included the lines: “There’s no air left to breathe” and “They were all good children, each one of them”. A refrain in Hebrew at the end of the song has been completely rewritten.
You can find a full breakdown of what changed here, and my colleague Safi Bugel’s report about it from March here.
Just on the Israel staging for a second, they’ve rolled out some kind of physical prop there which they have hung lights on and the dancers interact with, and – NO SPOILERS – but I think you are going to see that again later where they just … roll it out on stage for no readily apparent reason, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
6: 🇮🇱 Israel: Eden Golan – Hurricane
It is a fair enough Eurovision ballad, and advance warning, you can’t fault her for vocal range at the climax of the track. In any other year I think it would have done well enough, but not necessarily been a direct contender for winning. This year, I think the way the public vote might pan out could see it placed very highly indeed.
Eden Golan representing Israel with the song Hurricane. Photograph: Jessica Gow/EPA
The numbering is going to go weird here, because for voting purposes everybody keeps their original number, but there is no song number five. So Israel will be the fifth song on the night, but count as song number six. Who knows when we do the toast to Sir Terry in these circumstances.
This doesn’t count as ✨✨✨ Unexpected use of the French language! ✨✨✨ for your bingo cards, because it is frankly more unexpected use of English given they have three official languages in Luxembourg and English isn’t one of them. The animations are clearly sponsored by BIG CAT™️
4: 🇱🇺 Luxembourg: Tali – Fighter
Luxembourg have won it five times and are in little danger of making it six times with this, bless.
Tali of Luxembourg performs the song Fighter. Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP
I laughed …
When I interviewed the Ukraine entry, Jerry Heil said it was like a sauna in the arena with the heat of the audience. This amount of fire isn’t bringing it down, is it?
✨✨✨ An artist has their dog in their postcard! ✨✨✨
3: 🇩🇪 Germany: Isaak – Always on the Run
I used to make it a point of honour not to listen to any of the big five/host entries before the final so that you would get my initial unfiltered impression. This year I decided not to do that. So I watched them during the semi-finals. And made absolutely zero notes about Germany. Which I guess also counts as an initial unfiltered impression.
Isaak representing Germany and making very little impression on this live blogger. Photograph: Jessica Gow/EPA
As everybody is reminding everybody, nobody has ever won after going second. This will be up near the top, but not a winner?
✨✨✨ The wind machine is activated! ✨✨✨
2: 🇺🇦 Ukraine: alyona alyona and Jerry Heil – Teresa & Maria
There is a little bit of Bronski Beat’s Smalltown Boy about the opening chord sequence, but it soon starts sounding like a cross between the traditional Ukrainian singing that we are familiar with from Ukrainian entries past, and some religious chorus. I think this will do well. Full disclosure: I got to interview them this week and they were lovely so maybe I have a bias.
Jerry Heil giving it some welly during Teresa & Maria. Photograph: Jessica Gow/TT/REX/Shutterstock
Seems like a strong presentation with the Matrix/Kraftwerk style graphics, not sure the extra dancers have added much to it.
