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Eurovision 2024: Martin Österdahl discusses the major changes to the contest!

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The Executive Supervisor of the EBU, Martin Österdahl, spoke about all the recent changes introduced to the contest over the past two years.

In an interview with Billboard, Martin Österdahl, revealed the idea behind the changes introduced in this year’s edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, especially regarding the voting process.

Österdahl began by explaining the decision to have the Big 5 and the host country perform normally during the semi-finals.”

We have felt from time to time that the Big Five perhaps had a disadvantage. We’ve looked at ways to correct that. The Big Five have been doing much better recently, but still we feel the time is right to make this change now.

According to Österdahl, the voting system is quite outdated, involving SMS, telephone voting, and a two-hour wait for viewers to cast their votes for their favorites.

If you see something that you like, you can cast your vote, which is something that is more in line with the behavior of young people today, who are used to interacting straightaway with the shows.

This leads us to another major change introduced last year – the Rest of the World voting. This type of voting was introduced for the first time during the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Warsaw, during the Covid-19 pandemic when delegations couldn’t attend the event in person.When we saw the online voting come in, it was a real eye-opener for me, because there were 12 participating countries as opposed to 40 in Eurovision and it’s a kid show.

We saw the votes coming in from 180 countries around the world on this European kids’ show. It was amazing, so I thought, “We need to tap into this.” My expectations are high when it comes to the engagement here.

When we saw the online voting come in, it was a real eye-opener for me, because there were 12 participating countries as opposed to 40 in Eurovision and it’s a kid show.

We saw the votes coming in from 180 countries around the world on this European kids’ show. It was amazing, so I thought, “We need to tap into this.” My expectations are high when it comes to the engagement here.

The Rest of the World voting will be adjusted this year as well, with a dedicated voting window open 24 hours before the live shows. This will give fans around the world the opportunity to vote for their favorites independently.

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Stay tuned at EurovisionFun for all the latest developments regarding Eurovision 2024!

Source: Billboard

The Model: Switzerland Tipped for Victory with One Week Remaining

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With the Grand Final of Eurovision 2024 just around the corner, The Model, Eurovoix’s data-driven simulation of the contest, is favoring Switzerland as the potential winner.

Drawing from diverse data sources including current betting odds, community rankings, and polls, The Model maintains that Nemo and their song ‘The Code‘ are the frontrunners to clinch victory in this year’s competition.

As per the latest simulation, Switzerland is anticipated to accumulate a total of 454 points, potentially marking the lowest winning total since the inception of the new voting system in 2016. Trailing closely behind are Ukraine and Italy, both projected to score 422 points and sharing the second position.

Utilizing data from bookmakers’ odds, community rankings, and more, The Model endeavors to provide accurate Eurovision predictions. For a deeper understanding of its methodology, check out a brief explanation here:

As the contest draws nearer, The Model adjusts its projections to reflect evolving dynamics, considering factors such as show running orders, political biases, and tactical voting. This meticulous approach aims to generate realistic forecasts of the final outcome.

So, if The Model were to be entirely accurate, what scenarios does it predict for Eurovision 2024?

Semi-Final One

With rehearsals underway, fans and bookmakers gain insights into each country’s staging plans, influencing the shifting landscape of winning probabilities. Today’s updated projections from The Model reflect these changes, presenting a significantly altered picture from previous assessments.

Ukraine retains its lead in the first semi-final, with Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil‘s song “Teresa & Maria” receiving a significant boost in odds following the reveal of their staging. Following closely behind is Baby Lasagna and Croatia, securing the second spot despite climbing to first place in the overall odds.

Noteworthy is Ireland, rapidly climbing in the rankings following the unveiling of Bambie Thug‘s rehearsal clip for “Doomsday Blue“. With shortened odds, The Model now predicts Ireland to comfortably secure 135 points in the first semi-final, marking a return to the final stage.

Silvester Belt‘s “Luktelk” for Lithuania follows closely with 115 points, while Finland and Cyprus tie at 94 points in fifth and sixth places. Despite being high-energy songs, both “No Rules” and “Liar” benefit from the removal of juries this year, enhancing their chances of garnering public support.

Semi-Final Two

In the second semi-final, although there have been fewer changes, The Model adapts its projection to align with evolving odds, polls, and other factors. Notably, bookmakers display higher confidence in the outcome of Semi-Final Two compared to Semi-Final One, a sentiment echoed by The Model.

Joost Klein is forecasted to triumph in this semi-final with his hardstyle anthem “Europapa“, closing the show with a bang. Despite some critique of the staging, The Model anticipates overwhelming support for the song translating into substantial points on Thursday.

Trailing behind Joost Klein is Nemo with “The Code“, securing a robust 165 points. While Switzerland‘s position as a favorite to win the overall contest remains unchanged, Nemo‘s projection reflects the advantageous impact of their later performance slot in the running order.

Grand Final

In the absence of the running order for the final, The Model treats each song as if performing in the same position, except for Sweden, who has already drawn the first slot. Despite this limitation, The Model projects a compelling showdown in the Grand Final.

In this simulation, Israel leads the pack in the jury vote with their poignant ballad “Hurricane“, narrowly surpassing Switzerland. However, the public vote paints a different picture, with Ukraine emerging victorious, closely trailed by Switzerland and Italy.

Ultimately, Switzerland secures victory with 454 points, leveraging its strong performances in both the jury and public votes. While surprises abound in The Model’s projections, only the final show will reveal whether these predictions materialize into reality.

With just one week left until Eurovision 2024, The Model continues to refine its projections. Stay tuned for predictions for each show next week, and after the events, we’ll compare The Model’s forecasts with the actual results, offering insights into its accuracy.

As the excitement builds, all eyes are on Switzerland as the projected favorite to emerge victorious. The countdown to Eurovision 2024 is on, and anticipation is at an all-time high as fans eagerly await the grand finale.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the latest developments regarding the 68th Eurovision Song Contest!

Source: Eurovoix

The Model: Predicted Results for Eurovision 2024!

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The Model is a project by Eurovoix aimed at predicting the results of the Eurovision contest, based on betting odds, fan voting online, app usage, song views and streamings on electronic platforms, historical voting patterns, and even the position in the running order. It also takes into account other external factors such as political developments that could influence the outcome, or the nationality of an artist.

As the computational prediction model is constructed based on contemporary data, which dynamically change during the pre-party period, its recently updated version predicts Switzerland as the winner instead of Italy.

Ukraine and The Netherlands continue to be the winners of the two semi-finals, while in this edition, Greece and Cyprus also advance to the final, both with an upward trajectory.

First Semi-Final Scoreboard

Second Semi-Final Scoreboard

The change observed here is the qualification of Georgia for the Grand Final and the displacement of Denmark among the non-qualifiers. Clearly, Nutsa Buzaladze’s outstanding performance at the London Eurovision Party last weekend won over the fans and gave a boost to the Georgian entry.

Final Scoreboard

Perhaps the most challenging in terms of prediction, the voting outcome crowns Switzerland as the big winner of Eurovision 2024. According to this computational model, Greece will finish 13th (10th in both televoting and juries), while Cyprus will place 19th (21st with the juries and 16th in the televote).

What do you think of The Model’s results? Will they be confirmed in May? Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the updates!

Source: eurovoix.com

Eurovision 2024: “Can’t guarantee safety but do everything we can!” | Police ahead of Eurovision

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Now it’s only a month left before the world’s biggest music festival, the Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held in Malmö, Sweden. And preparations are in full swing so that the competition can be carried out with the best possible safety.

Petra Stenkulla is the police area manager in Malmö and was interviewed on P1-Morgon of Sveriges Radio by reporter August Haskbom. Petra comments on the situation:

“It is of course the case that Sweden has a terror threat level of four out of five. And that means that we need to intensify our work together with the security police. But really, you can say that all types of events where there are very many people in the same place always pose a certain risk and that means that we need to take measures to have many police officers and have good planning for anything that could happen, even if it is an accident or anything at all.”

In a time with high terrorist threat, Israel‘s participation has aroused strong reactions and with up to one hundred thousand visitors, the city of Malmö is still planning on an open event. Petra Stenkulla adds:

“Our ambition is for it to be a festive event where people can still feel safe and have fun. Right now, we’re planning for it to be an open event that is happening in several different places. There will be events and people need to be able to move between them. And this is part of our planning.”

In safety planning, the City of Malmö and the police have had frequent communication with last year’s host city, Liverpool.  And Petra Stenkulla thinks that a good plan has been formed for this year’s music competition:

“We can never guarantee safety but we will do our upmost to make people feel safe. And we can also assume that there will be both rumor spreading and other factors that will lead to, for example, threats that we need to assess. But we will continue to work with this, we have a solid plan and we feel confident with that plan. So that everyone can feel comfortable.”

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding this year’s Eurovision Song Contest to be held this May in Malmö, Sweden and any security updates regarding its planning!

Source: Sveriges Radio/P1 Morgon/August Haskbom/Ekot
Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

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Eurovision 2024: City of Malmö working hard for a safe Eurovision!

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Malmö is currently evaluating the current situation caused by the ongoing Middle-Eastern conflict, hence, is discussing the ways of making the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest as safe as possible.

Israel‘s confirmed participation in Eurovision is stirring emotional protests around Europe. Intensive work is being done on security for the Eurovision Song Contest, to be held this May in Malmö, Sweden. Ulf Nilsson, the Head of Security and Preparedness at the city of Malmö., said on an interview with P4 Malmöhus:

“Many people are contributing to make this a reputation-proof event. We’re broadly working with many different scenarios. We’re working very closely with the police, SVT, Region Skåne, the Traffic Department.”

Last weekend, a Eurovision sign outside Malmö Live was vandalized and has now been protected with wax. The vandalism was discovered in the early hours of the morning. On the base of the sign, someone has written “Free Gaza” and smeared it with red paint. Even on the digital sign that says “United by music” and “We are one“, someone has thrown paint.

Several individuals have already applied for permission from the police to demonstrate during Eurovision in protest against Israel and their Eurovision Song Contest participation.

“We see that many have opinions about Israel’s participation and we understand that. We’re closely monitoring the situation. Of course, this will be taken into account in our work.”

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding this year’s Eurovision Song Contest to be held next May in Malmö, Sweden!

Source: Sveriges Radio/P4 Malmöhus/Sofie Dahlstedt

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Eurovision 2024: Today the meeting of the heads of delegations in Malmö!

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On site. as well as with the help of the use of technology the meeting of the heads of delegations takes place today. The 37 countries are invited to submit to the organization the video clips of their participation, as well as the envelope with the instructions for their stage appearance. Any changes that participants wish to make from this date onwards must be approved by the competition’s Reference Group.

Eurovision 2024

Usually, at the meeting of the heads of delegations, the lottery for the order of appearance of the organizing country is also held. This means that probably today we will also know the position in which Sweden will compete, which as a previous winner and this year’s host country, participates directly in the final.

The only songs that remain to be heard are those of the countries of the Caucasus, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The heads of missions will normally submit the songs to the leaders’ meeting today and the public television stations of those countries will choose when they will be broadcast.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates!

Sweden: Security planning for Eurovision 2024 in Malmö intensified!

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As you’ve read on one of our articles last week, based on the increased terrorist threat level, the Swedish Police Authority had decided to ban bags at major events in Sweden.

Consequently, Malmö is currently evaluating the current situation caused by the ongoing Middle-East conflict and is discussing the ways of making the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest as safe as possible.

Speaking to Sveriges Radio, Nils Norling, spokesperson for the police of Malmö mentioned:

“If we look at Malmö during the last month, we have seen a certain increase in hate crime. Daily we see manifestations, mostly pro-Palestinian. So we cannot exclude that people will try and carry out various manifestations.”

Up until now, the police of Malmö hasn’t identified any direct threats to the contest, but it goes without saying that the intelligence work will intensify as we are approaching to the contest.

Sveriges Radio also interviewed Karin Karlsson, who is the lead for organising the events of Malmö municipality. Karin reflected on one manifestation against the Israeli participation that was carried out back in 2013 and added:

“I think that we need to act preventively and keep in mind that more could happen than in 2013, and then follow the things the police tells us to do.”

Apart from the Eurovision Song Contest, the city of Malmö will host several events in public or outdoor spaces. But does this pose a threat according to Karlsson?

“We try to look at places where we are used to having good security and controls, so the places we want to use should feel safe.“

More safety specifications regarding the Eurovision Song Contest will be released within the following months.

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden in 7, 9 and 11th of May 2024, after the second win of Loreen in Liverpool, with her song “Tattoo”:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the next year’s Eurovision Song Contest!

Source: Sveriges Radio

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Sweden: Bag ban in all major events, effective last Wednesday! | How are Mello and Eurovision affected?

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Based on the increased terrorist threat level, the Swedish Police Authority has decided to ban bags at major events in Sweden.

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Eurovision 2024: Stig Karlsen confirms that there was no decision made on reducing the jury power!

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Norway’s Head of Delegation, Stig Karlsen, who has previously defended the need to limit the power of jury in favor of the television audience, confirmed to The Euro Trip Podcast that no such decision has been made.

During the summer Stig Karlsen had revealed his plans on proposing to the EBU the alteration of the voting system, strengthening the weight of the television audience’s power on the total outcome.

The jury system at Eurovision should definitely be evaluated and the discussion is very welcome. There has been a difference (in the results) between the judges and the public vote in the past, but this year it was extremely wide. People obviously had a different winner. The fact that a jury of 185 people should have as much power as millions of viewers is questionable.

Stig Karlsen,  Norway’s head of Delegation

During the Eurovision Workshop that took place in Berlin on September 11 and 12, an Instagram story posted by Stig Karslen was enough to cause loads of comments, but also questions about whether the Head of the Norwegian Delegation finally managed to persuade with his proposal.

Eurovision 2024: Did Stig Karlsen succeed in reducing the power of juries?

Stig Karlsen does not confirm that any alteration on the 50/50 percentage has been made

Speaking on The Euro Trip Podcast, Stig Karlsen denies the rumor that he managed to convince his colleagues and especially the Reference Group of the Competition (which is in charge of deciding), to change the 50-50 system. When asked about the story in question, Karlsen said:

It was just a success of getting a schnitzel.

Nevertheless, Karlsen insists that the public should have a greater say in the final result and while he thinks that the presence of national juries is needed, he believes that a 60-40 system in favor of the television audience would be fairer.

His opinion on the voting system is strongly connected with his country’s course in the contest the previous years. Norway since 2016 has received 332 points from the jury and 826 points from the viewers.

https://youtu.be/PUHSM_vTqTI?si=4K1OLJ3OZLeVZp76

What is your opinion? Do you agree or disagree with Stig Karlsen? Stay tuned on EurovisionFun for all news!

Source: The EuroTrip Podcast

Euroweekly News: All the news of the week in one video!

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You know how we like to evolve and every now and then to create new projects. So, starting today, every Sunday we will make an appointment on our YouTube channel where we will present you in a 2-3 minute video all the important news of the week, for those who want to stay completely informed about what is happening in the wonderful world of Eurovision, but they don’t have the time, they are bored or they just don’t like to read the articles on our website.

Enjoy the video prepared with great love by Kostis Mountakis, who recently joined our team and stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for many more surprises! Don’t forget to follow our channel for more exclusive content!

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the updates about the Eurovision Song Contest!