The 68th Eurovision Song Contest champion will be crowned tonight in Malmo, Sweden. But the action on stage is almost dwarfed by the background controversies.
The Netherlands will not be represented in this evening’s Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final after their artist Joost Klein was disqualified.
The European Broadcasting Union released a statement Saturday morning saying the Dutch artist, previously one of the breakout stars of this year’s contest with his song ‘Europapa’, would not be allowed to compete in this evening’s final.
The statement from the EBU said: “It would not be appropriate for him to continue in the contest” while the legal process takes place.”
Earlier, controversies over Israel’s and Ukraine’s participation made news. Tonight’s finale is also expected to spawn pro-Palestinian street demonstrations in Malmo, which has a large Muslim population.
Acts from more than two dozen countries will take the stage to compete for the continent’s pop music crown.
In Europe, the final round begins at 9 p.m. Central European Summer Time. In Britain, it airs at 8 p.m.
In the United States and Canada, the finale begins airing at 3 p.m. EDT.
The competition will be aired by national broadcasters in participating nations — the Eurovision website includes a list of broadcasters on its website. In some territories, it’ll be watchable on Eurovision’s YouTube channel.
In the U.S., Eurovision will stream live on Peacock.
Voting is open for 24 hours before the final starts for viewers in the U.S. and other nonparticipating countries, who can vote online or using the Eurovision app.
Viewers in participating countries can vote during the competition by website app, phone or text message, but can’t vote for their own nation’s entry.
Countries are awarded points based on both viewers’ votes and rankings from juries of music industry professionals. These are combined into a total score — the country with the highest score wins.
Eurovision has spawned many mainstream artists, including ABBA, Canadian Celine Dion (who competed for Switzerland in 1988) and the Italian rock band Måneskin in 2021. Last year’s winner, Swedish diva Loreen, is one of only two people who have won the contest twice.
The post How To Watch The Eurovision Song Contest Finals In Malmo, Sweden appeared first on Deadline.
