Eurovision 2024: Grand Final Jury Show – Live Commentary! (Updated Live)
After the Semi-Finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, the contestants that got the golden ticket, along with the Big 5 and Sweden are ready for the Grand Final tomorrow at 21.00 CET. 50% of the Grand Final result will be determined tonight, in the Final Jury Rehearsal that has just started and will be evaluated by the national juries of the 37 participating countries.
Earlier today we saw the Dress Rehearsal and you can read our commentary here.
As announced by the EBU, The investigation into the incident with the Dutch artist in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest is still ongoing.
Discussions are also taking place between the EBU and AVROTROS, the Dutch participating broadcaster. While the investigation continues the EBU has decided that Joost Klein will not perform during Dress Rehearsal 2 of the competition which is voted on by juries in the 37 participating countries. His performance from Semi Final 2 will be used instead.
This article gets updated in real-time, all you need to do is hit the refresh button on your browser!
So stay tuned to this article as we update it with all details, preparing you for what you will see in the Grand Final tomorrow May 11th.
The Show
Opening Act
The show starts with an introductory video where a child appears in an office surrounded by beams of light listening to iconic Eurovision. The artist Bjorn Skifs appears on stage singing Hooked On A Feeling.
Thie flag parade commences, during which we hear the well-known I Love It by Icona Pop and Beautiful Life by Ace of Base. The flag parade continues with The Look by Roxette, I Follow Rivers by Lykke Li, Sun Is Shinning by Axwell L Ingrosso and finally Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! by ABBA!
Our two presenters Petra Mede and Malin Åkerman appear on the stage, explaining to us in a humorous way what the winner of the Grand Final will win.
They explain the voting process in English and French and the lines are officially opened!
The Competing Acts
1. Sweden: Marcus & Martinus – Unforgettable
The Norwegian superstar twins representing Sweden open the show with a bang, a sleek performance that has been elevated ever since they performed it in Melodifestivalen. A jury bait for sure but will televoters remember this by the end of the show? The fact that voting lines are open from the start could help them.
2. Ukraine: alyona alyona & Jerry Heil – Teresa & Maria
Yet another strong and impactful performance by Ukraine, more confident than ever. The act is visually impressive, emotional and the vocals are on point. This is the ultimate test to the dreaded 2nd “death” slot. Will Ukraine manage to finish in the top 5 nevertheless? It is possible, as this has both televote and jury appeal.
3. Germany: ISAAK – Always On The Run
Germany delivers a decent but forgettable performance for yet another year. Isaak is a good live performer and has a radio friendly song that could receive some love from the juries but seems doomed to receive a very disappointing televote and end up among the last in the final ranking.
4. Luxembourg: Tali – Fighter
Luxembourg returns after 31 years with a fun, well performed entry that blends English and French lyrics. The fact that it appears so early in the running order, before all the other dance bops means that it will mostly rely on the juries, hoping to avoid at least the bottom 5.
5. Netherlands: Joost Klein – Europapa
We watch the semi-final performance of Joost Klein. We don’t know yet if the Netherlands will compete tomorrow, but the juries will rank this performance tonight.
6. Israel: Eden Golan – Hurricane
Next up, the most controversial entry of Eurovision 2024 by Eden Golan, who has shot up to 2nd place in the odds after RAI revealed she won the Italian televote in a landslide. Loud booings can be heard for a big part of the performance. The entry is professional and vocally good but maybe not the best of her rehearsals. It seems that Israel will inevitably win the televote, but will the jury support be enough for Eden to win? The biggest mystery of the season will be answered tomorrow.
7. Lithuania: Silvester Belt – Luktelk
Sylvester Belt is next with his energetic bop Luktelk. Excellently staged and performed but probably a bit monotonous for the juries to appreciate. Appearing right after the most talked about entry will certainly not help. Will the Lithuanian diaspora support be enough to achieve a left side of the scoreboard result?
Break
8. Spain: Nebulossa – ZORRA
The adorable, unexpected winner of Benidorm Fest may not be the best performer but the arena goes crazy for her. However this poor performance will probably not be marked highly neither by juries nor by televoters, making it the favorite for the last place of the final.
9. Estonia: 5MIINUST x Puuluup – (nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi
The band from Estonia is a unique entry to the final lineup but it sadly falls flat compared to other fun party songs. Vocally it’s also not great so I can’t see it finishing in the top 15.
10. Ireland: Bambie Thug – Doomsday Blue
Yet another controversial entry with striking imagery, staged and performed perfectly. An impressive show that the viewers won’t forget and will obviously reward. But could the juries kill its chances for a top placement?
11. Latvia: Dons – Hollow
The biggest surprise of the semi-finals, the likeable Dons is vocally great and is visibly happy to be in the finals. A bit forgettable but decent, most of the points he will get will undoubtedly be from the national juries.
12. Greece: Marina Satti – ZARI
Marina Satti delivers by far her best performance so far, full of energy and charisma, vocally great and sassy as ever, making the crowd go wild. The performance is equally fun but also sleek and modern so this could be appreciated by both televoters and juries, but it remains a very unpredictable entry that could polarize.
13. United Kingdom: Olly Alexander – Dizzy
A visually stunning and technically impressive entry but the charisma of the singer is not convincing enough, even if he is a worldwide star. Vocally improved but still shaky at some parts, the juries will still give him points. My televote prediction for Olly however is not very optimistic.
Break
14. Norway: Gåte – Ulveham
Artistic, unique, haunting, full of rich ethnic flavour and energy but it seems most of the tv audience could be left cold because of the intense vocalisms, leading to a disappointing televote result like Blanca Paloma from Spain last year, while I also sadly doubt that this will be one of the jury favorites, possibly finishing unexpectedly low.
15. Italy: Angelina Mango – La Noia
Angelina Mango is wearing a new sparkly black outfit that works better with the led backdrop, not blending in. Charismatic and vocally good as always, but the staging and choreography hasn’t helped elevate this song to a winner contender and will probably settle with a top 10 result, extending Italy’s impressive top 10 streak.
16. Serbia: Teya Dora – Ramonda
Up next, the beautiful Serbian ballad, executed perfectly. The staging is effective but perhaps too simple to make the audience pick up the phone. This should receive points however from the juries and the Serbian diaspora, leading to a mid-table result.
17. Finland: Windows95man – No Rules!
The nonsense troll entry of the year, some will say it’s disgusting and embarrasing while other will find it fun and genius. Obviously relies on the televote to save it from the bottom, as the juries will give it close to zero points.
18. Portugal: Iolanda – Grito
An interesting transition, from the biggest troll to the classiest entry of the final, the talented Iolanda with the elegantly presented Grito. Her impecable vocals earn a big applause and can certainly impress jurors but the viewers will easily forget it as it lacks a catchy melody.
19. Armenia: Ladaniva – Jako
Next up, the immensly charismatic Jaklin from Armenia gives us some much needed pure colorful ethnic fun. This could be the big surprise of the year if the song wasn’t so monotonous but it can still achieve a decent left hand side result.
20. Cyprus: Silia Kapsis – Liar
17-year old Silia Kapsis is impressively confident and a great live performer. She should definetely be proud of herself for being such an accomplished artist at such a young age. Simple but effective performance that sadly comes before one of the big favorites. Hopefully it won’t be lost among the other acts.
21. Switzerland: Nemo – The Code
Nemo is vocally great (not at his best though) and delivers one of the most interesting and demanding songs of the year, full of twists and turns. The staging is technically impressive but not really coherent as it lacks a clear message. The juries are bound to love this but I fear it lacks emotional connection for the audience, resulting in a televote score that will be decent, not enough for the victory but probably enough for a top 5 placement.
Break
22. Slovenia: Raiven – Veronika
The other surprise of the semi-finals is certainly not helped by the running order, right after a big favorite and a break and before the big favorite. Vocally good as usual but this is neither televote friendly nor radio friendly enough for the juries. It will be a big surprise if Slovenia breaks into the top 15.
23. Croatia: Baby Lasagna – Rim Tim Tagi Dim
From underdog of the year to favorite for the win, Baby Lasagna should be proud of himself for elevating this performance a lot from Dora and improving as a vocalist, showing a lot more charisma. Tons of energy and fun, the crowd goes absolutely crazy. Juries should also appreciate this and it would be a totally deserved winner but I think the first victory of Croatia is not as certain as odds imply.
24. Georgia: Nutsa Buzaladze – Firefighter
Effective staging and Nutsa is vocally on point but we’ve seen this before a million times as this entry feels like it belongs in 2008, with its messy and loud production probably alienating jurors.
25. France: Slimane – Mon Αmour
France has managed to stage this song to perfection, with simplicity and class. Slimane is a great artist but tonight, when it really mattered, he wasn’t at his best. Especially at the end of the song his voice cracked and sounded very strained, almost like he lost his voice. I considered this the sure jury winner but now I have serious doubts.
26. Austria: Kaleen – We Will Rave
A great throwback party closer to the show with nice staging but sadly Kaleen has shown she’s not one of the strongest performers, neither as a dancer nor as a vocalist. The vocals were off especially at the end, making her chances for a good jury result even slimmer. An early fan favorite that won’t reach top 10.
Interval Acts
The first Interval Act we will see is the Swedish band Alcazar, who sing Crying At The Discoteque. It should be noted that the group will only reunite for the night of the grand final.
We then see highlights of ABBA and Waterloo on the LED screens. Charlotte Perrelli, Carola and Conchita Wurst take to the stage to sing the iconic song.
A recap of the songs follows.
We watch highlights from last year’s Junior Eurovision and Petra doing her own postcard like the artists.
Next up, last year’s winner Loreen takes to the stage and sings a new song “Forever” which was released today on music platforms. She then transitions to her winning song Tattoo in an alternate version.
We watch a recap of the song in reverse order (from 26th to 1st in the order of appearance).
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