The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country’s victory at the 2021 contest with the song “Zitti e buoni” by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU-UER) and host broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI), the contest was held at the PalaOlimpico, and consisted of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May, and a final on 14 May 2022. The three live shows were presented by Italian television presenter Alessandro Cattelan, Italian singer Laura Pausini and Lebanese-British singer Mika.

This will be the third time that Italy hosts the contest (having previously hosted the 1965 edition in Naples and the 1991 edition in Rome), as well as the first EBU-UER event to be held in the country since the last edition of Jeux sans frontières in 1999.

Forty countries participated in the contest, with Armenia and Montenegro returning after their absences from the previous edition. Russia had originally planned to participate, but was excluded due to its invasion of Ukraine.

The winner was Ukraine with the song “Stefania”, performed by Kalush Orchestra and written by the group’s members Ihor Didenchuk, Ivan Klimenko, Oleh Psiuk, Tymofii Muzychuk and Vitalii Duzhyk. Ukraine’s 439 points received from the televote in the final are the most televoting points received in the contest’s history to date, making “Stefania” the first song sung entirely in Ukrainian and the first song with hip-hop elements to win the contest.^[1] The United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, and Serbia rounded out the top five, with the United Kingdom and Spain achieving their best results since 1998 and 1995 respectively, and Serbia achieving its best result since 2012. It was also a record-extending sixteenth time that the United Kingdom finished in second place. Italy finished in sixth place, thereby achieving the best result for a host country since 2016.

The EBU-UER reported that the contest had a television audience of 161 million viewers in 34 European markets, a decrease of 22 million viewers from the previous edition, however, it is noted that this is due to the exclusion of Russia and the lack of audience figures from Ukraine, with the overall figures up by 7 million viewers in a comparable market from 2021. An increase of three percent in the 15–24 year old age range was also reported. A total of 18 million viewers watched the contest online on YouTube and TikTok.

1.Location. The 2022 contest took place in Turin, Italy, following the country’s victory at the 2021 edition with the song “Zitti e buoni“, performed by Måneskin. It was the third time that Italy had hosted the contest, having previously done so for the 1965 and 1991 contests, held in Naples and Rome respectively. The selected venue was the 13,300-seat PalaOlimpico, a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Santa Rita district, which serves as a venue for events including concerts, exhibitions, trade fairs, conferences, and sports (mainly those requiring an ice rink, such as ice hockey and curling). PalaOlimpico had previously hosted the ice hockey events at the 2006 Winter Olympics, and the opening ceremonies of the 2007 Winter Universiade and will host the same event in 2025.

The venue returned to its full capacity for the contest, after the previous edition in Rotterdam saw a limited audience of 3,500 people as a precaution against the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the audience was required to wear masks at all times inside the venue, unlike in Rotterdam where mask-wearing was not enforced whenever the audience was seated.

IIn addition to the main venue, the host city also organised side events in tandem with the contest. The Eurovision Village was the official Eurovision Song Contest fan and sponsors area during the event weeks, where it was possible to watch performances by contest participants and local artists, as well as the live shows broadcast from the main venue. It was located at Parco del Valentino and open from 7 to 14 May 2022. The EuroClub, which took place across ten different locations in Turin, hosted the official after-parties and private performances by contest participants. Unlike in previous years, access to the EuroClub was not restricted to accredited fans, delegates and press. The “Turquoise Carpet” and Opening Ceremony events, where the contestants and their delegations were presented before the accredited press and fans, took place at the Palace of Venaria on 8 May 2022.

1.1.Bidding phase. Between 23 and 28 May 2021, many cities across Italy expressed interest in hosting the contest. Representatives from the cities of Bologna, Milan, Pesaro, Naples and Turin voiced their interest, as well as the Mayor of Reggio Emilia, Luca Vecchi, who hoped to host the contest in the new RCF Arena, the largest open-air arena in Europe with a capacity of 100,000 spectators. The mayors of Rome, Rimini and Florence soon after also expressed interest in hosting the contest and were joined by Sanremo, Verona and Bari. Marco Di Maio, member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, also suggested that if Rimini were to host the contest, it should be a co-production with San Marino RTV.

Host broadcaster RAI launched the bidding process on 7 July 2021. In the first phase of this process, any interested cities were to present their bid through certified email by 12 July, after which RAI and the EBU would proceed to send all of them a bid book with more detailed requirements for the cities to submit their plans for review.

On 9 July 2021, the city of Turin officially announced its bid. On the same day, the city of Pesaro did the same, proposing the Vitrifrigo Arena as a possible venue to host the event. They were followed by Bologna and Jesolo on 12 July, and Rimini and Bertinoro (jointly with Forlì and Cesena) on 13 July. On 13 July, RAI announced that 17 cities had submitted their bid for hosting the contest and would be provided the following day with the bid books. They had until 4 August to draft and submit their detailed plans, which 11 cities did. On 24 August, it was reported that Bologna, Milan, Pesaro, Rimini and Turin would be the cities left in the running to host the contest. 

The choice among them was meant to be announced by the end of August; however, this did not happen, and in mid-September Stefano Coletta, director of Rai 1, stated that the selection was behind time to ensure “transparency and precision”. On 8 October 2021, the EBU and RAI announced Turin as the host city, with the PalaOlimpico as the chosen venue for the contest. 

• Acireale — PalaTupparello.
• Alessandria — Cittadella. Proposal was dependent on the construction of a roof to cover the area; would have needed renovation works.
• Bertinoro — PalaGalassi. Candidacy supported by Forlì, Cesena and the Legislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna.
• Bologna — Fiera di Bologna e Unipol Arena. Candidacy supported by the Legislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna.
• Florence — Nelson Mandela Forum. Candidacy supported by the Regional Council of Tuscany.
• Genoa — Palasport di Genova. Is undergoing renovation works.
• Jesolo — Palazzo del Turismo. Did not meet the EBU requirements of size; Piave Vecchia Lighthouse area. Proposal was dependent on the construction of a roof to cover the area.
• Matera — Cava del Sole. Proposal was dependent on the construction of a roof to cover the area.
• Milan — Mediolanum Forum. Did not meet the EBU requirements of size; Palazzo delle Scintille. Would have needed adjustment works. Candidacy supported by the regional government of Lombardy.
• Palazzolo Acreide — Ad hoc arena to be built. Would have needed the cooperation of other municipalities in Syracuse.
• Pesaro — Vitrifrigo Arena
• Rimini — Rimini Fiera. Candidacy supported by the Legislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna.
• Rome — PalaLottomatica; Fiera di Roma. Did not meet the EBU requirements of capacity.
• Sanremo — Mercato dei Fiori.
• Trieste — PalaTrieste. Did not meet the EBU requirements of size; Stadio Nereo Rocco. Proposal was dependent on the construction of a roof to cover the stadium.
• Turin — PalaOlimpico. Candidacy supported by the Turin city council and the Regional Council of Piedmont.
• Viterbo — Fiera di Viterbo. Did not meet the EBU requirements of size; would have needed renovation works.

• A journey to discover the beauty of Italy. This year’s postcards will be a journey to discover the beauty of Italy, through the wonders of flight to capture breath-taking views of the Italian landscape.

Thanks to the FPV drone shooting technique combined with a stabilised drone, as well as CGI and postproduction graphics, the postcards will be portrayed through the curious and fervent eyes of our drone Leo, which will be called in by the presenters every time a new contestant is on stage.

in green), other bidding cities (in red) and cities that expressed interest but ultimately did not bid (in grey).

• A journey to discover the beauty of Italy. This year’s postcards will be a journey to discover the beauty of Italy, through the wonders of flight to capture breath-taking views of the Italian landscape.

Thanks to the FPV drone shooting technique combined with a stabilised drone, as well as CGI and postproduction graphics, the postcards will be portrayed through the curious and fervent eyes of our drone Leo, which will be called in by the presenters every time a new contestant is on stage.

Its mission will be very thrilling: at first, it will show its surroundings, then the flight will be normalised so that viewers can admire the location.

Leo will wander around the location and pictures showing the participants and their artistic world will appear as if by magic. 

Leo will curiously observe such images and it will then decide when to stop. Eventually, a beam of light will come out of his body, and it will show unreleased videos by the contestants, who will interact with Leo on camera.

At the end, shots of our Leo filming his flight over the skies of Italy will be shown, as the live show from the Pala Olimpico starts again.

2.Production. The The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was produced by the Italian public broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI). The Italian government allocated around €1.5 million as part of the budget needed to host the event, while the municipality of Turin and the regional government of Piedmont contributed around €10 million in total. Claudio Fasulo and Simona Martorelli served as executive producers, Cristian Biondani and Duccio Forzano served as directors of the three live shows, Claudio Santucci served as head of show, and Emanuele Cristofoli served as artistic director for the opening and interval acts.

2.1.Visual design. The theme art and slogan for the contest, “The Sound of Beauty”, was unveiled on 21 January 2022. Designed by Rome-based studio Flopicco, the artwork was built around the symmetrical structure and patterns of cymatics to convey the visual properties of sound, which also reflects Italian garden design, while the typography was inspired by early-20th century Italian poster art; the colours were drawn from those of the Italian flag.

• The Sound of Beauty. Turin’s theme is a visual representation of The Sound of Beauty. In order to represent sound and its visual (and beautiful) properties, the design is based on the symmetrical structure and patterns of cymatics – the study of sound wave phenomena.

The term ‘cymatic’ was coined in the 1960s by Hans Jenny,a Swiss scientist and philosopher, derived from the ancient Greek word κῦμα (kyma), which means ‘wave’. His experiments showed that if fine powders were placed on a sheet of metal and acoustic wave vibrations were applied to them, these particles were organised into specific patterns.

These patterns, also known as Chladni figures, configure, in the case of harmonic sounds, into symmetrical geometric shapes and compositions, similar to mandala configurations.

The Italian Garden (or ‘giardini all’italiana’) was one of the main inspirations for the set design and it was noticeable that these gardens have a structure similarly present in cymatics. Both are based on symmetry, axial geometry and seem to indicate the principle of an idea of order over nature. 

The cymatics in the theme-art visually hint towards both the sun and a cosmic portal that can be opened on the idea of the sound of beauty.

• Italian Design. Arsenica is a serif typeface designed by Francesco Canovaro for Zetafonts and developed by a design team including Mario De Libero, Andrea Tartarelli and Cosimo Lorenzo Pancini.

The design of Arsenica takes its inspiration from Italian poster design at the beginning of the 20th century, a time when typography, lettering and illustration were closely interwoven, pushing on traditional old style letterforms often imbued with Art Nouveau and Deco sensibilities.

Artists like Giorgio Muggiani and Marcello Dudovich illustrated posters for Cinzano, Pirelli, and Rinascente and provided typographical design for newspapers.

The use of typography is key to further defining the Italian identity of this year’s theme. Poster design and branding are central to the history of Italian design and through typography consolidate the overall Italian look and feel of the event.

• A spectacular stage with a kinetic sun. Francesca Montinaro: “We are the ones with the sun within, and this is our way to be in this world”.

For the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, multimedia a artist and stage designer Francesca Montinaro wants to welcome the world to her country with a brandnew iconic stage machinery: a kinetic sun moving endlessly. This will be the trademark of the scene that will greet each artist in a different and unique way. After creating The Ripped Backdrop for Sanremo Italian Song Festival in 2013 and The Trampoline in the clouds for the 2019 edition, this time Francesca Montinaro will present The Sun Within.

“The kinetic sun, source of spectacular movements and tricks of light, rules the stage and represents our Italian attitude: always on the move, rebellious, creative, welcoming, passionate, intuitive. We are the ones with the sun within, and this is our way to be in this world”, Montinaro says. “Our Country is a huge stage in which we are both protagonists and spectators at the same time. We could have just been happy that we live in the most beautiful Country in the world and instead Italian artists and creators have added even more wonder to the beauty: monuments,
urban planning, architecture, sculpture, painting, which have always enhanced the natural beauty of our Country. We are the perfect alchemy between nature and culture”, continues the stage designer. “The cascade of water that frames the stage, allegorically represents the sea surrounding us, which symbolises our millennial and complex culture. The stage is our peninsula: a Country where each contestant is more than welcomed, no matter where they come from. Finally, the teams will be hosted in a lush Italian garden, where vegetation mingles with rays of light suspended between reality and illusion, which will take them to a playful and architectural dimension.”

Those who will enjoy the 66th edition of Eurovision Song Contest will get lost in a world of wonders. In the grand stage machinery, which will be traditional and modern at the same time, digital and analogic features will be perfectly mixed in order to create one of the most iconic editions of the show to date. During this edition, where 40 different countries will compete, Italian will participate with the duo Mahmood & BLANCO and their song Brividi, who recently won the 72nd edition of the Sanremo Italian Song Festival. Eurovision Song Contest 2022 will be broadcasted live on Rai 1 and Rai Radio 2, and will be also available on Rai Play.

Ministry of Tourism and Enit – Italian National Tourist Board in partnership with Rai Com, Piedmont Region, and the Municipality of Turin, together in a wideranging international event to promote Italy. Music consolidates the travellers’ relationship with the land, thus providing a unique opportunity to develop quality tourism and involve foreign visitors passing through cultural phenomena.

2.2.Presenters. Television presenter Alessandro Cattelan and singers Laura Pausini and Mika were the presenters of the 2022 contest. They had already been named as likely hosts by Italian news agency Adnkronos and TV magazine TV Sorrisi e Canzoni; and were officially confirmed during the second night of the Sanremo Music Festival 2022 on 2 February, after appearing on that show as special guests.

The “Turquoise Carpet” and Opening Ceremony events were hosted by Gabriele Corsi, Carolina Di Domenico, Mario Acampa and Laura Carusino. Acampa, Carusino and Di Domenico are also moderating the contest’s press conferences.

• Laura Pausini. Grammy Award and Latin Grammy Award and Golden Globe winner, Oscar nominee Laura Pausini is the most important Italian female artist around the world from 1993. After 70 million albums sold, tours in all continents, host TV programs in many Countries and involved in numerous charity projects, she is finally our female host this year! She launched her new global project and her latest single Scatola (Caja for the spanish version), presented at Sanremo, is the soundtrack to her first film, Laura Pausini: Piacere di Conoscerti, that had its international streaming release in April worldwide.
• Alessandro Cattelan. Alessandro Cattelan celebrates a 20-year TV career this year. From his TV debut, alongside his daily live radio experience, he has been at the helm of major large-scale international shows in which he has interviewed some of the world’s biggest stars. He is the creator and host of late and primetime entertainment shows and new formats and has also presented the Italian version of X Factor, the most famous of the music talent shows, for ten years. Alessandro Cattelan: One Simple Question, a six-episode docushow, of which he is the creator and star, made its streaming-platform debut in March and is available in 190 countries. An innovator and an exceptional interpreter of the tastes of the coming generation, Cattelan will bring his personal style to one of the most important shows in the world.
• Mika. Since his 2007 debut with Grace Kelly, Mika has made freedom from barriers of any artistic genre or geographical or social boundary one of the key facets of his eclectic artistic journey, becoming a world-famous pop star in an extremely short space of time. Singer-songwriter, theatrical TV and radio entertainer, designer, illustrator and above all an irresistible live performer, Mika has just started a tour that is taking his music to the world’s most prestigious venues. The first leg in North America has just been completed with two shows at the Coachella Festival, and his recently announced Italian tour with two different shows in each of the five cities to highlight his more intimate and more spectacular sides: two forms of expression specially designed for his Italian audience.
• Laura Carusino. Laura Carusino was born in Milan. After performing in many successful musicals such as Grease, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Scooby Doo, she landed at Rai as a host and actress for the popular children’s TV show, L’Albero Azzurro and for many other Rai Ragazzi weblogs. In 2016 and 2017, she was the official host of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
• Carolina Di Domenico. Carolina Di Domenico was born in Naples and lives in Rome. She is a television and radio presenter, as well as an actress. Her brilliant career started on MTV, and she is now one of Rai’s best-known faces in the music industry. Apart from hosting her own programme on Rai Radio 2, Rock And Roll Circus, she was part of the artistic commission of Sanremo Festival. In 2018, she also hosted the Dopofestival. The Eurovision world is not new to her. As a matter of fact, she was the commentator of 2018 and 2021 Semi-Finals, and also 2021 edition’s spokesperson. Together with her colleague Mario Acampa, she presented this year’s Allocation Draw, that is the draw ceremony of the Eurovision 2022 Semi-Finals.
• Mario Acampa. Mario Acampa is a presenter, actor and director. In 2017, he became the Italian commentator of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. He is a popular name on Rai Ragazzi, since he is the wellknown author and presenter of numerous TV and radio programmes, including La Banda dei FuoriClasse on Rai Gulp and Commessi Viaggiatori on Rai Radio 2. On Rai 2, he narrates stories of inclusion in the programme O anche no! and hosts Italian Green, a format on  sustainability and ecological transition. Mario is also the curator and director of Milan’s Teatro alla Scala educational seasons.

2.3.Stage design. The stage design for the 2022 contest was revealed on 18 February 2022. Designed by Rome-based stage designer Francesca Montinaro and dubbed “The Sun Within”, the stage design was based around the movements and light of a kinetic sun, with the intended ability to showcase theatrical motion. The design also featured a working water cascade and a green room modelled after an Italian garden. Montinaro had previous experience in stage design, having done so for the Sanremo Music Festival in 2013 and 2019. This marked the first time since 2016 that German stage designer Florian Wieder did not design the Eurovision stage.

2.4. Opening and interval acts. On 30 April 2022, the EBU released information about the opening and interval acts.

The first semi-final was opened by a performance showcasing Italian ingenuity and creativity, accompanied by the official anthem of the contest, “The Sound of Beauty”, performed by Sherol Dos Santos, while the interval featured a medley of “Horizon in Your Eyes”, “Satisfaction” and “Golden Nights” performed by Dardust, Benny Benassi and Sophie and the Giants with conductor Sylvia Catasta, a brief homage to Raffaella Carrà performed by the contest presenters, and Diodato performing “Fai rumore“.

The second semi-final was opened by “The Italian Way”, an act built around Italian improvisation performed by co-presenter Alessandro Cattelan, while the interval featured a medley of “Fragile” and “People Have the Power” performed by co-presenters Laura Pausini and Mika, and Il Volo performing a new version of “Grande amore“.^[b]

The final was opened by the traditional flag parade, introducing all twenty-five finalists, accompanied by the Rockin’ 1000 performing “Give Peace a Chance” and co-presenter Laura Pausini performing a medley of “Benvenuto“, “Io canto“, “La solitudine“, “Le cose che vivi” and “Scatola“. The interval acts included Måneskin performing their new single “Supermodel” and “If I Can Dream”, Gigliola Cinquetti performing her winning song “Non ho l’età“, and co-presenter Mika performing a medley of “Love Today”, “Grace Kelly”, his new single “Yo Yo” and “Happy Ending”. Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti also appeared in a pre-recorded message from the International Space Station.

3.Format.

3.1.Entries. For the second year in a row, delegations had the option to use pre-recorded backing vocals, though each delegation could still use backing singers – whether on or off stage – or a combination of live and recorded backing vocals. However, all lead vocals performing the melody of the song must still be live. The EBU also required all national broadcasters to create a ‘live-on-tape’ backup recording prior to the contest which can be used if a participant is unable to travel to Turin, or subjected to quarantine on arrival. The 2022 contest also saw a tightening of the rules around song eligibility. Previously, the rules stated that the competing songs must not have been commercially released prior to 1 September of the previous year, now, a song may be ineligible to compete if it has been released to the public in any way, including live performances, before 1 September of the previous year. Enforcement of the rule is subject to the responsibility of the participating broadcasters.

The 2022 contest was the first edition to not feature any competing song with lyrics in French.

3.2.Semi-final allocation draw. The draw to determine the participating countries’ semi-finals took place on 25 January 2022 at 12:00 CET, at Palazzo Madama. The thirty-six semi-finalists were divided over six pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the contest’s official televoting partner Digame. The purpose of drawing from different pots is to reduce the chance of “bloc voting” and to increase suspense in the semi-finals. The draw also determined which semi-final each of the five automatic qualifiers – “Big Five” countries France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom – will broadcast and vote in. The ceremony was hosted by Carolina Di Domenico and Mario Acampa, with Acampa replacing Gabriele Corsi who tested positive for COVID-19. It included the passing of the host city insignia from Ahmed Aboutaleb, the mayor of previous host city Rotterdam, to Stefano Lo Russo, the mayor of Turin.

• Pot 1: 🇦🇱 Albania, 🇭🇷 Croatia, 🇲🇪 Montenegro, 🇲🇰 North Macedonia, 🇷🇸 Serbia, 🇸🇮 Slovenia
• Pot 2: 🇦🇺 Australia, 🇩🇰 Denmark, 🇫🇮 Finland, 🇮🇸 Iceland, 🇳🇴 Norway, 🇸🇪 Sweden
• Pot 3: 🇦🇲 Armenia, 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan, 🇬🇪 Georgia, 🇮🇱 Israel, Russia^[c], 🇺🇦 Ukraine
• Pot 4: 🇧🇬 Bulgaria, 🇨🇾 Cyprus, 🇬🇷 Greece, 🇲🇹 Malta, 🇵🇹 Portugal, 🇸🇲 San Marino
• Pot 5: 🇪🇪 Estonia, 🇱🇻 Latvia, 🇱🇹Lithuania, 🇲🇩 Moldova, 🇵🇱 Poland, 🇷🇴 Romania
• Pot 6: 🇦🇹 Austria, 🇧🇪 Belgium, 🇨🇿 Czech Republic, 🇮🇪 Ireland, 🇳🇱 The Netherlands, 🇨🇭 Switzerland

3.3.Postcards. The “postcards” were 40-second video introductions shown on television whilst the stage is being prepared for the next contestant to perform their entry. Filmed between February and April, and directed by Matteo Lanzi, the 2022 postcards were based on the “Sound of Beauty” theme of the contest. Guided by a drone named “Leo”, each postcard showcased a different locale in Italy adorned by pictures and various artistic elements related to the acts, while the participating artists themselves appeared via footage superimposed through chroma keying. The following locations were used for each participating country:

• Albania – Su Nuraxi, Barumini, Sardinia
• Armenia – Marmore Falls, Terni, Umbria
• Australia – MART, Rovereto, Trentino-South Tyrol
• Austria – Miramare Castle, Trieste, Friuli Venezia Giulia
• Azerbaijan – Villa Monastero, Varenna, Lombardy
• Belgium – Perugia, Umbria
• Bulgaria – Castel del Monte, Andria, Apulia
• Croatia – Grinzane Cavour, Cuneo, Piedmont
• Cyprus – Matterhorn, Aosta Valley
• Czech Republic – Caserta, Campania
• Denmark – Procida, Naples, Campania
• Estonia – Sacra di San Michele, Sant’Ambrogio di Torino, Piedmont
• Finland – Laghi di Fusine, Udine, Friuli Venezia Giulia
• France – Cavour, Piedmont
• Georgia – Burano, Venice, Veneto
• Germany – Lingotto, Turin, Piedmont
• Greece – Selinunte, Trapani, Sicily
• Iceland – Cortina d’Ampezzo, Belluno, Veneto
• Ireland – Matera, Basilicata
• Israel – Manarola, Cinque Terre, Liguria
• Italy – Mole Antonelliana, Turin, Piedmont
• Latvia – Merano, Trentino-South Tyrol
• Lithuania – Bergamo, Lombardy
• Malta – Abbey of San Galgano, Siena, Tuscany
• Moldova – Urbino, Marche
• Montenegro – Monte Conero, Ancona, Marche
• The Netherlands – Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna
• North Macedonia – Cala Luna [it], Nuoro, Sardinia
• Norway – Lago di Scanno, L’Aquila, Abruzzo
• Poland – Scala dei Turchi, Agrigento, Sicily
• Portugal – Genoa, Liguria
• Romania – Isola di Capo Rizzuto, Crotone, Calabria
• San Marino – Rome, Lazio
• Serbia – Castle of Rocca Calascio, L’Aquila, Abruzzo
• Slovenia – Civita di Bagnoregio, Viterbo, Lazio
• Spain – Alagna Valsesia, Vercelli, Piedmont
• Sweden – Rimini, Emilia-Romagna
• Switzerland – Termoli, Campobasso, Molise
• Ukraine – Florence, Tuscany
• United Kingdom – Orta San Giulio, Novara, Piedmont

The Sound Of Eurovision 2022 🎶
Are you ready?#Eurovision2022 #TheSoundOfBeauty #ESCita #ESC2022 @Eurovision pic.twitter.com/ZCL2943nQW

— Eurovision Rai (@EurovisionRai) March 22, 2022

Discover the Sound of Beauty with the Class of #Eurovision 2022! 🇦🇱🇦🇲🇦🇺🇦🇹🇦🇿🇧🇪🇧🇬🇭🇷🇨🇾🇨🇿🇩🇰🇪🇪🇫🇮🇫🇷🇬🇪🇩🇪🇬🇷🇮🇸🇮🇪🇮🇱🇮🇹🇱🇻🇱🇹🇲🇹🇲🇩🇲🇪🇳🇱🇲🇰🇳🇴🇵🇱🇵🇹🇷🇴🇸🇲🇷🇸🇸🇮🇪🇸🇸🇪🇨🇭🇺🇦🇬🇧

🎶 Listen to all 40 songs right here: https://t.co/PwXVMKuyro pic.twitter.com/1SSV2DMJ8I

— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) March 22, 2022

4.Participating countries. The EBU initially announced on 20 October 2021 that 41 countries would participate in the 2022 contest. The list included all countries that participated in the 2021 contest, along with Armenia and Montenegro, both of which had last taken part in 2019 (Armenia was also set to compete in the cancelled 2020 edition).

Red: Participating countries in the first semi-final; Pre-qualified for the final but also voting in the first semi-final; Blue: Participating countries in the second semi-final; Pre-qualified for the final but also voting in the second semi-final.

On 25 February 2022, the EBU announced that Russia was excluded from the contest due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, thereby reducing the number of participating countries to 40.

4.1.Returning artists. The contest featured four representatives who also previously performed as lead artists for the same country. Stoyan Yankoulov, a member of Intelligent Music Project, had previously represented Bulgaria at the 2007 and 2013 contests alongside Elitsa Todorova; Zdob și Zdub had represented Moldova in 2005 and 2011; Mahmood had represented Italy in 2019; and Ihor Didenchuk [uk], a member of Kalush Orchestra, had previously represented Ukraine in 2021 as a member of Go_A. In addition, Ihan Haydar, who had previously represented Denmark in 2012 as a member of Soluna Samay’s backup band, returned as a member of Reddi.

4.2.Semi-final 1. The first semi-final took place on 10 May 2022 at 21:00 (CEST). Seventeen countries participated in the first semi-final. Those countries plus France and Italy voted in this semi-final. Russia was originally allocated to participate in the second half of the first semi-final, but was excluded from the contest due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

Italian genius and creativity will be the main theme of the show for the First Semi-Final, which will start from an imaginary inventor lab, where a flying machine will turn on Pala Olimpico’s stage. The Sound of Beauty will increase its BPM rate, with a journey through Italian Dance music featuring Dardust, Benny Benassi, Sylvia Catasta and Sophie and the Giants. With his performance, Diodato, who held an emotional and moving 2020 performance in an empty Arena di Verona, will symbolise the return to live music after its interruption in the spring of two years ago. 

• 1st halft (1-9); 2nd halft: (10-17): Draw – Country – Artist – Song – Language – Place – Points

1. Albania (RTSH): Ronela Hajati – “Sekret” (Secret) (Ronela Hajati – Ronela Hajati) with Klaudia Pepa, Yusef Zahir, Karmine Verola, Mario Giuseppe Uzzi, Andrea Attila Felice. Albanian, English^[d]. 58 points, 12º
2. Lettonia (LTV): Citi Zēni – “Eat your salad” (Ēd Savus Salātus) (Dagnis Roziņš / Jānis Pētersons – Jānis Jačmenkins (JJ Lush) / Roberts Memmēns). English. 55 points, 14º ^[e]
3. Lituania (LTR): Monika Liu – “Sentimentai” (Sentiments) (Monika Liu – Monika Liu). Lithuanian. 159 points, 7º
4. Svizzera: Marius Bear – “Boys do cry” (Jungen weinen) (Marius Bear / Martin Gallop – Marius Bear / Martin Gallop). English. 118 points, 9º
5. Slovenia: LPS – “Disko” (Disco) (Filip Vidušin / Gašper Hlupič / Mark Semeja / Zala Velenšek / Žiga Žvižej – Filip Vidušin / Gašper Hlupič / Mark Semeja / Zala Velenšek / Žiga Žvižej). Slovene. 15 points, 17º
6. Ucraina: Kalush Orchestra – “Stefania” (Стефанія) (Ivan Klymenko / Oleh Psiuk – Ihor Didenchuk / Tymofii Muzychuk / Vitalii Duzhyk). Ukrainian. 337 points, 1º
7.  Bulgaria (BNT): Intelligent Music Project (Интелиджънт Мюзик Проджект) – “Intention” (Намерение) (Milen Vrabevski, MD – Milen Vrabevski, MD). English. 29 points, 16º
8. Paesi Bassi (AVROTROS): S10 – “De diepte” (The depth) (Stien den Hollander / Arno Krabman – Stien den Hollander / Arno Krabman). Dutch. 221 points, 2º
9. Moldavia (TRM): Zdob și Zdub and Frații Advahov – “Trenulețul” (The little train) (Mihail Gincu / Roman Iagupov / Vasile Advahov / Vitalie Advahov – Mihail Gincu / Roman Iagupov / Vasile Advahov / Vitalie Advahov). Romanian, English. 154 points, 8º
10. Portogallo: MARO – “Saudade, saudade” (Longing, longing) (MARO – MARO / John Blanda) with  Beatriz Fonseca, Beatriz Pessoa, Carolina Leite, Diana Castro and Milhanas. English, Portuguese. 208 points, 4º
11. Croazia (HRT): Mia Dimšić – “Guilty pleasure” (Grješno zadovoljstvo) (Mia Dimšić / Damir Bačić / Vjekoslav Dimter – Mia Dimšić / Damir Bačić / Vjekoslav Dimter). English, Croatian. 75 points, 11º
12. Danimarca (DR): REDDI – “The show” (Showet) (Ihan Haydar / Siggy Savery / Julia Fabrin – Ihan Haydar / Siggy Savery / Chief 1 / Remee Jackman). English. 55 points, 13º ^[e]
13. Austria (ÖRF): LUM!X feat. Pia Maria – “Halo” (Heiligenschein) (Luca Michlmayr / Anders Nilsen / Gabriele Ponte / Rasmus Flyckt / Sophie Alexandra Tweed-Simmons – Luca Michlmayr / Anders Nilsen / Gabriele Ponte / Rasmus Flyckt / Sophie Alexandra Tweed-Simmons). English. 42 points, 15º
14. Islanda (RÚV): Systur (Sigga, Beta og Elín) – “Með hækkandi sól” (With the rising sun) (Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir – Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir). Icelandic. 103 points, 10º
15. Grecia (ERT): Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord (Αμάντα Γεωργιάδη Τένφγιορντ) – “Die together” (Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord – Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord / Bjørn Helge Gammelsæter). English. 211 points, 3º
16. Norvegia (NRK): Subwoolfer – “Give that wolf a banana” (Gi den ulven en banan) (Jim / Keith / DJ Astronaut – Jim / Keith / DJ Astronaut). English. 177 points, 6º
17. Armenia (ARMTV/AMPTV): Rosa Linn (Ռոզա Լին) – “Snap” (Rosa Linn / Allie Crystal / Courtney Harrell / Jeremy Dusolet / Larzz Principato / Tamar Mardirossian Kaprelian – Rosa Linn / Allie Crystal / Courtney Harrell / Larzz Principato / Tamar Mardirossian Kaprelian). English. 187 points, 5º

Scoreboard: 

Split results (Semi-final 1)
Place	Combined		Jury		Televoting
	Country	Points	Country	Points	Country	Points
1	🇺🇦 Ukraine	337	🇬🇷 Greece	151	🇺🇦 Ukraine	202
2	🇳🇱 The Netherlands	221	🇳🇱 The Netherlands	142	🇲🇩 Moldova	135
3	🇬🇷 Greece	211	🇺🇦 Ukraine	135	🇦🇲 Armenia	105
4	🇵🇹 Portugal	208	🇵🇹 Portugal	121	🇳🇴 Norway	104
5	🇦🇲 Armenia	187	🇨🇭 Switzerland	107	🇱🇹 Lithuania	103
6	🇳🇴 Norway	177	🇦🇲 Armenia	82	🇵🇹 Portugal	87
7	🇱🇹 Lithuania	159	🇳🇴 Norway	73	🇳🇱 The Netherlands	79
8	🇲🇩 Moldova	154	🇮🇸 Iceland	64	🇬🇷 Greece	60
9	🇨🇭 Switzerland	118	🇱🇹 Lithuania	56	🇦🇱 Albania	46
10	🇮🇸 Iceland	103	🇭🇷 Croatia	42	🇮🇸 Iceland	39
11	🇭🇷 Croatia	75	🇱🇻 Latvia	39	🇦🇹 Austria	36
12	🇦🇱 Albania	58	🇩🇰 Denmark	35	🇭🇷 Croatia	33
13	🇩🇰 Denmark	55[h]	🇲🇩 Moldova	19	🇩🇰 Denmark	20
14	🇱🇻 Latvia	55	🇦🇱 Albania	12	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	18
15	🇦🇹 Austria	42	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	11	🇱🇻 Latvia	16
16	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	29	🇸🇮 Slovenia	7	🇨🇭 Switzerland	11
17	🇸🇮 Slovenia	15	🇦🇹 Austria	6	🇸🇮 Slovenia	8

Semi-final 1 voting results (jury vote)

		Total score	Televoting score	🇦🇱	🇱🇻	🇱🇹	🇨🇭	🇸🇮	🇺🇦	🇧🇬	🇳🇱	🇲🇩	🇵🇹	🇭🇷	🇩🇰	🇦🇹	🇮🇸	🇬🇷	🇳🇴	🇦🇲	🇫🇷	🇮🇹
C o n t e s t a n t s	🇦🇱 Albania	58	46															12
	🇱🇻 Latvia	55	16			2	2	3		3		4	12		1	1	4	4		2		1
	🇱🇹 Lithuania	159	103		1		3	12			2		6	10	5		8		5		2	2
	🇨🇭 Switzerland	118	11	6	4	10		4	6	12	7	10	4	6	6	7	5		4	5	5	6
	🇸🇮 Slovenia	15	8								1	1		5
	🇺🇦 Ukraine	337	202	12	12	12	8	7			8	12	7	7	7		10	3	6	7	10	7
	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	29	18	1														10
	🇳🇱 The Netherlands	221	79	10	3	8	12	10	12	4		2	8	2	12	8	7	6	8	12	8	10
	🇲🇩 Moldova	154	135			1			2	1			1					7	1	1		5
	🇵🇹 Portugal	208	87	4	5	7	4	6	8	5	10	5		12	8	10	6	5	10	10	6
	🇭🇷 Croatia	75	33	3				8	3	6	3					3		8		4		4
	🇩🇰 Denmark	55	20		6	5	5		5	2				3		5	1		3
	🇦🇹 Austria	42	36															2			1	3
	🇮🇸 Iceland	103	39	5	8	4	6		4		5	3	10	4	4	2			2	3	4
	🇬🇷 Greece	211	60	8	10	6	10	5	7	10	12	8	5	8	10	6	2		12	8	12	12
	🇳🇴 Norway	177	104	2	7	3	7	2	1	7	6	7	2		3	4	12	1		6	3
	🇦🇲 Armenia	187	105	7	2		1	1	10	8	4	6	3	1	2	12	3		7		7	8

Semi-final 1 voting results (televote)

		Total score	Jury score	🇦🇱	🇱🇻	🇱🇹	🇨🇭	🇸🇮	🇺🇦	🇧🇬	🇳🇱	🇲🇩	🇵🇹	🇭🇷	🇩🇰	🇦🇹	🇮🇸	🇬🇷	🇳🇴	🇦🇲	🇫🇷	🇮🇹
C o n t e s t a n t s	🇦🇱 Albania	58	12				8	6		1				2		2		12		2	5	8
	🇱🇻 Latvia	55	39			10			5		1
	🇱🇹 Lithuania	159	56	1	10		3	5	12	5	5	6	6	6	8	4	5	5	8	7	6	1
	🇨🇭 Switzerland	118	107			3					2				1	3	1			1
	🇸🇮 Slovenia	15	7											8
	🇺🇦 Ukraine	337	135	8	12	12	10	10		12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	10	10	12	10	12
	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	29	11	12								5						1
	🇳🇱 The Netherlands	221	142	3	3	6	2	3	6	3		8	8	3	4	5	8	4	1	4	4	4
	🇲🇩 Moldova	154	19		8	7	7	7	10	8	10		10	10	6	10	7	6	6	6	7	10
	🇵🇹 Portugal	208	121	5	6	8	12	2	4	6	6	4		1	3	1	2	3	2	8	8	6
	🇭🇷 Croatia	75	42	6			6	12		2			1			6
	🇩🇰 Denmark	55	35		2	1		1				3	3				6		4
	🇦🇹 Austria	42	6	4	1		4		3			2		4	2		4	2	3	5		2
	🇮🇸 Iceland	103	64		5	2	1		8		4		2		7				7		3
	🇬🇷 Greece	211	151	10				8	1	7	3	1	4						12	10	1	3
	🇳🇴 Norway	177	73	2	7	5		4	7	4	7	10	7	7	10	7	10	7		3	2	5
	🇦🇲 Armenia	187	82	7	4	4	5		2	10	8	7	5	5	5	8	3	8	5		12	7

12 points: 

12 points awarded by juries

#	Recipient	Countries giving 12 points
4	🇳🇱 The Netherlands	🇨🇭 Switzerland, 🇺🇦 Ukraine, 🇩🇰 Denmark, 🇦🇲 Armenia
4	🇺🇦 Ukraine	🇦🇱 Albania, 🇱🇻 Latvia, 🇱🇹 Lithuania, 🇲🇩 Moldova
4	🇬🇷 Greece	🇳🇱 The Netherlands, 🇳🇴 Norway, 🇫🇷 France, 🇮🇹 Italy
1	🇦🇱 Albania	🇬🇷 Greece
1	🇦🇲 Armenia	🇦🇹 Austria
1	🇱🇻 Latvia	🇵🇹 Portugal
1	🇱🇹 Lithuania	🇸🇮 Slovenia
1	🇳🇴 Norway	🇮🇸 Iceland
1	🇵🇹 Portugal	🇭🇷 Croatia
1	🇨🇭 Switzerland	🇧🇬 Bulgaria

12 points awarded by televoting

#	Recipient	Countries giving 12 points
12	🇺🇦 Ukraine	🇱🇻 Latvia, 🇱🇹 Lithuania, 🇧🇬 Bulgaria, 🇳🇱 Netherlands, 🇲🇩 Moldova, 🇵🇹 Portugal, 🇭🇷 Croatia, 🇩🇰 Denmark, 🇦🇹 Austria, 🇮🇸 Iceland, 🇦🇲 Armenia, 🇮🇹 Italy
1	🇦🇱 Albania	🇬🇷 Greece
1	🇦🇲 Armenia	🇫🇷 France
1	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	🇦🇱 Albania
1	🇭🇷 Croatia	🇸🇮 Slovenia
1	🇬🇷 Greece	🇳🇴 Norway
1	🇱🇹 Lithuania	🇺🇦 Ukraine
1	🇵🇹 Portugal	🇨🇭 Switzerland

4.3.Semi-final 2. The second semi-final took place on 12 May 2022 at 21:00 (CEST). Eighteen countries participated in the second semi-final. Those countries plus Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

The second Semi-Final will be opened by Alessandro Cattelan, who will introduce us to the Italian art of getting by. Later in the evening, we will try to teach our audience all over Europe and Australia how to speak Italian even if they do not one single word, by taking inspiration from Bruno Munari’s Supplemento al dizionario italiano (or Supplement to the Italian Dictionary). Gianluca Ginoble, Ignazio Boschetto and Piero Barone, the operatic pop trio Il Volo, will surprise the Eurovision audience eight years after Vienna. Finally, in a world premiere, the unprecedented and long-awaited duet between our international stars Laura Pausini and Mika will be unveiled.

• 1st halft (1-9); 2nd halft (10-18): Draw – Country – Artist – Song – Language – Place – Points

1. Finlandia (Yle): The Rasmus – “Jezebel” (Lauri Ylönen / Desmond Child – Lauri Ylönen / Desmond Child). English. 162 points, 7º
2. Israele (KAN): Michael Ben David (מיכאל בן דוד) – “I.M” (אני) (Asi Tal / Chen Aharoni / Lidor Saadia – Asi Tal / Chen Aharoni / Lidor Saadia) with  Tomer Tenenbyom, . English. 61 points, 13º
3. Serbia: Konstrakta (Констракта) – “In corpore sano” (У здравом телу, In a healthy body) (Ana Đurić – Ana Đurić / Milovan Bošković). Serbian, Latin. 237 points, 3º
4. Azerbaigian (İTV): Nadir Rustamli (Nadir Rüstəmli) – “Fade to Black” (Anderz Wrethov / Andreas Stone / Sebastian Schub / Thomas Stengaard – Anderz Wrethov / Andreas Stone / Sebastian Schub / Thomas Stengaard). English. 96 points, 10º
5. Georgia (GPB): Circus Mircus (ცირკუს მირკუსი) – “Lock me in” (Circus Mircus – Circus Mircus). English. 22 points, 18º
6. Malta (TVM): Emma Muscat – “I Am What I Am” (Emma Muscat / Dino Medanhodzic / Julie Aagaard / Stine Kinck – Emma Muscat / Dino Medanhodzic / Julie Aagaard / Stine Kinck). English. 47 points, 16º
7. San Marino: Achille Lauro – “Stripper” (Lauro De Marinis / Daniele Dezi / Daniele Mungai / Davide Petrella / Federico De Marinis / Francesco Viscovo / Simon Pietro Manzari – Gregorio Calculli (Greg) / Marco Lanciotti (Lancs) / Matteo Ciceroni (Gow Tribe) / Mattia Cutolo (Banf)). Italian, English. 50 points, 14º
8. Australia (SBS): Sheldon Riley – “Not the same” (Sheldon Riley Hernández – Sheldon Riley Hernández / Cam Nacson). English. 243 points, 2º
9. Cipro (PIK/RIK): Andromache (Ανδρομάχη) – “Ela” (Έλα) (Alex Papaconstantinou / Arash / Eyelar Mirzazadeh / Fatjon Miftaraj / Filloreta Raci Fifi / George Papadopoulos / Robert Uhlmann / Viktor Svensson / Yll Limani – Alex Papaconstantinou / Arash / Eyelar Mirzazadeh / Fatjon Miftaraj / Filloreta Raci Fifi / George Papadopoulos / Robert Uhlmann / Viktor Svensson / Yll Limani) with Nefeli Theodotou & Despina Lagoudaki. English, Greek. 63 points, 12º
10. Irlanda (RTÉ): Brooke – “That’s rich” (Brooke Scullion / Izzy Warner / Karl Zine – Brooke Scullion / Izzy Warner / Karl Zine). English. 47 points, 15º
11. Macedonia del Nord (MPT): Andrea (Андреа) – “Circles” (Кругови) (Aleksandar Masevski / Andrea – Aleksandar Masevski) with Ana Petanovska and Renata Kralevska (Ана Петановска и Рената Кралевска). English. 76 points, 11º
12. Estonia (ERR): Stefan – “Hope” (Stefan Airapetjan – Stefan Airapetjan / Karl-Ander Reismann). English. 209 points, 5º
13. Romania: WRS – “Llámame” (Sună-mă, Call me) (Andrei Ursu / Cezar Gună – Andrei Ursu / Alexandru Turcu / Cezar Gună / Costel Dominteanu). English^[f]. 118 points, 9º
14. Polonia (TVP): Ochman – “River” (Krystian Ochman / Ashley Hicklin – Krystian Ochman / Adam Wiśniewski / Ashley Hicklin / Mikołaj Trybulec). English. 198 points, 6º
15. Montenegro (RTCG): Vladana (Владана) – “Breathe” (Диши) (Vladana – Vladana / Darko Dimitrov). English, Italian. 33 points, 17º
16. Belgio (RTBF): Jérémie Makiese – “Miss you” (Jérémie Makiese / Manon Romiti / Mike BGRZ / Silvio Lisbonne – Jérémie Makiese / Manon Romiti / Mike BGRZ / Silvio Lisbonne). English. 151 points, 8º
17. Svezia: Cornelia Jakobs – “Hold Me Closer” (Cornelia Jakobs / David Zandén / Isa Molin – Cornelia Jakobs / David Zandén / Isa Molin). English. 396 points, 1º
18. Repubblica Ceca (ČT): We Are Domi – “Lights off” (Benjamin Rekstad / Dominika Haskova / Abigail Frances Jones – Benjamin Rekstad / Casper Hatlestad / Dominika Haskova / Abigail Frances Jones / Einar Eriksen Kvaløy). English. 227 points, 4º

Scoreboard:

Split results (Semi-final 2)
Place	Combined		Jury		Televoting
	Country	Points	Country	Points	Country	Points
1	🇸🇪 Sweden	396	🇸🇪 Sweden	222	🇸🇪 Sweden	174[i]
2	🇦🇺 Australia	243	🇦🇺 Australia	169	🇷🇸 Serbia	174
3	🇷🇸 Serbia	237	🇪🇪 Estonia	113	🇨🇿 Czech Republic	125
4	🇨🇿 Czech Republic	227	🇧🇪 Belgium	105	🇵🇱 Poland	114
5	🇪🇪 Estonia	209	🇨🇿 Czech Republic	102	🇷🇴 Romania	100
6	🇵🇱 Poland	198	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	96	🇫🇮 Finland	99
7	🇫🇮 Finland	162	🇵🇱 Poland	84	🇪🇪 Estonia	96
8	🇧🇪 Belgium	151	🇫🇮 Finland	63[j]	🇦🇺 Australia	74
9	🇷🇴 Romania	118	🇷🇸 Serbia	63	🇨🇾 Cyprus	54
10	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	96	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	56	🇧🇪 Belgium	46
11	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	76	🇮🇱 Israel	34	🇮🇪 Ireland	35
12	🇨🇾 Cyprus	63	🇲🇹 Malta	27	🇸🇲 San Marino	29
13	🇮🇱 Israel	61	🇸🇲 San Marino	21	🇮🇱 Israel	27
14	🇸🇲 San Marino	50	🇷🇴 Romania	18	🇲🇪 Montenegro	22
15	🇮🇪 Ireland	47[k]	🇬🇪 Georgia	13	🇲🇹 Malta	20[l]
16	🇲🇹 Malta	47	🇮🇪 Ireland	12	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	20
17	🇲🇪 Montenegro	33	🇲🇪 Montenegro	11	🇬🇪 Georgia	9
18	🇬🇪 Georgia	22	🇨🇾 Cyprus	9	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	0

Semi-final 2 voting results (jury vote)

		Total score	Televoting score	🇫🇮	🇮🇱	🇷🇸	🇦🇿	🇬🇪	🇲🇹	🇸🇲	🇦🇺	🇨🇾	🇮🇪	🇲🇰	🇪🇪	🇷🇴	🇵🇱	🇲🇪	🇧🇪	🇸🇪	🇨🇿	🇩🇪	🇪🇸	🇬🇧
C o n t e s t a n t s
	🇫🇮 Finland	162	99		5	5	4	3	3	3		2		4	8	4	4	4	5	4	2	1	2
	🇮🇱 Israel	61	27				1		2		10		3			1	1		7	3		2	3	1
	🇷🇸 Serbia	237	174	8	1		3	2		2	4	5	7	12				7	2				5	5
	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	96	0	7		8		4	4	4	3	6		1	6	3	3	5	3	5	4	10	12	8
	🇬🇪 Georgia	22	9						1		1				3						5	3
	🇲🇹 Malta	47	20		2		2	1		1			6	6	1					7	1
	🇸🇲 San Marino	50	29	5												2	2		12
	🇦🇺 Australia	243	74	10	10	2	10	10	10	10		10	5	5	10	10	10	10	8	12	8	6	10	3
	🇨🇾 Cyprus	63	54	3									4							2
	🇮🇪 Ireland	47	35								6	1			4				1
	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	76	20	2		1			5		7		1			5	5	1			10	12		7
	🇪🇪 Estonia	209	96	4	3	10	7	7	8	7	5	7	8	2		7	7	6		10	7	4		4
	🇷🇴 Romania	118	100		4										2							8	4
	🇵🇱 Poland	198	114	1	8	3	8	8	6	8		8		8				3	6	1	3		7	6
	🇲🇪 Montenegro	33	22			7								3									1
	🇧🇪 Belgium	151	46		7	6	5	5		5	8	3	2	10	5	6	6	8		8	6	5	8	2
	🇸🇪 Sweden	396	174	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	7	12	12	12	12	10		12	7	6	12
	🇨🇿 Czech Republic	227	125	6	6	4	6	6	7	6	2	4	10		7	8	8	2	4	6				10

Semi-final 2 voting results (televote)

		Total score	Jury score	🇫🇮	🇮🇱	🇷🇸	🇦🇿	🇬🇪	🇲🇹	🇸🇲	🇦🇺	🇨🇾	🇮🇪	🇲🇰	🇪🇪	🇷🇴	🇵🇱	🇲🇪	🇧🇪	🇸🇪	🇨🇿	🇩🇪	🇪🇸	🇬🇧
C o n t e s t a n t s
	🇫🇮 Finland	162	63			1	5	6	6	3	2	2	1	8	12	4	6		4	12	10	7	6	4
	🇮🇱 Israel	61	34				10	10		2											3	2
	🇷🇸 Serbia	237	63	8	8			12	12	12	12	12	4	12	4	10	7	12	6	10	12	10	5	6
	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	96	96
	🇬🇪 Georgia	22	13	2	5						1				1
	🇲🇹 Malta	47	27			2	3					1	3	3	3			1	2	2
	🇸🇲 San Marino	50	21	4					8		5					2	4						3	3
	🇦🇺 Australia	243	169	6	6		7	2	7	7		4	7		5	3	2	3	3	4	5	3
	🇨🇾 Cyprus	63	9			10	12	1	1	4				5		7	3	8		1			1	1
	🇮🇪 Ireland	47	12		3				3		8								1		1		7	12
	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	76	56			8												10			2
	🇪🇪 Estonia	209	113	12	4	4		7			3	3	6	1		8	10	7	7	8	8	4	2	2
	🇷🇴 Romania	118	18	3	2	6	6	5	5	8	4	10	5		2		5		8	3	4	5	12	7
	🇵🇱 Poland	198	84	5	7		1	3	4	5	6	8	12	2	6	1		2	12	7	7	12	4	10
	🇲🇪 Montenegro	33	11			12								10
	🇧🇪 Belgium	151	105	1	1	3	4			1		6	2	4	7	5	1	5		5		1
	🇸🇪 Sweden	396	222	10	12	5	8	8	10	10	10	7	10	7	10	12	12	6	10		6	8	8	5
	🇨🇿 Czech Republic	227	102	7	10	7	2	4	2	6	7	5	8	6	8	6	8	4	5	6		6	10	8

12 points

12 points awarded by juries

#	Recipient	Countries giving 12 points
16	🇸🇪 Sweden	🇫🇮 Finland, 🇮🇱 Israel, 🇷🇸 Serbia, 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan, 🇬🇪 Georgia, 🇲🇹 Malta, 🇸🇲 San Marino, 🇦🇺 Australia, 🇨🇾 Cyprus, 🇮🇪 Ireland, 🇵🇱 Poland, 🇪🇪 Estonia, 🇷🇴 Romania, 🇲🇪 Montenegro, 🇨🇿 Czech Republic, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
1	🇦🇺 Australia	🇸🇪 Sweden
1	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	🇪🇸 Spain
1	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	🇩🇪 Germany
1	🇸🇲 San Marino	🇧🇪 Belgium
1	🇷🇸 Serbia	🇲🇰 North Macedonia

12 points awarded by televoting

#	Recipient	Countries giving 12 points
8	🇷🇸 Serbia	🇬🇪 Georgia, 🇲🇹 Malta, 🇸🇲 San Marino, 🇦🇺 Australia, 🇨🇾 Cyprus, 🇲🇰 North Macedonia, 🇲🇪 Montenegro, 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
3	🇵🇱 Poland	🇮🇪 Ireland, 🇧🇪 Belgium, 🇩🇪 Germany
3	🇸🇪 Sweden	🇮🇱 Israel, 🇷🇴 Romania, 🇵🇱 Poland
2	🇫🇮 Finland	🇪🇪 Estonia, 🇸🇪 Sweden
1	🇨🇾 Cyprus	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan
1	🇪🇪 Estonia	🇫🇮 Finland
1	🇮🇪 Ireland	🇬🇧 United Kingdom
1	🇲🇪 Montenegro	🇷🇸 Serbia
1	🇷🇴 Romania	🇪🇸 Spain

4.4.Final. The final took place on 14 May 2022 at 21:00 (CEST). Twenty-five countries participated in the final, with all forty participating countries eligible to vote.

The Grand Final opening sequence will stage the power of music to evoke peace, featuring the Rockin’ 1000 is a group of rock musicians primarily from Italy, which is made up of a thousand musicians playing and singing all together. Laura Pausini will recall her long-lasting career through a medley of her greatest hits, by presenting her life journey through music in a great show that starts from her debut at Sanremo Festival and ends with her last single Scatola. Straight from Los Angeles, California, where they are currently recording their latest album and getting ready for their upcoming sold-out world tour. After a year of resounding success, Måneskin will shine once again on the Eurovision stage, which will be located in Pala Olimpico this time. After the last winners, the first Italian Eurovision champion Gigliola Cinquetti will return to the Eurovision stage, 58 years after her victory in 1964. Finally, Mika’s performance will continue to stress on the importance to combine the word peace with the word love. After that, the traditional ‘12 points’ parade will lead to the announcement of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 winner.

• Draw – Country – Artist – Song – Language – Place – Points

1. Repubblica Ceca (ČT): We Are Domi – “Lights off” (Benjamin Rekstad / Dominika Haskova / Abigail Frances Jones – Benjamin Rekstad / Casper Hatlestad / Dominika Haskova / Abigail Frances Jones / Einar Eriksen Kvaløy). English. 38 points, 22º ^[g]
2. Romania: WRS – “Llámame” (Sună-mă, Call me) (Andrei Ursu / Cezar Gună – Andrei Ursu / Alexandru Turcu / Cezar Gună / Costel Dominteanu). English^[f]. 65 points, 18º
3. Portogallo: MARO – “Saudade, saudade” (Longing, longing) (MARO – MARO / John Blanda) with  Beatriz Fonseca, Beatriz Pessoa, Carolina Leite, Diana Castro and Milhanas. English, Portuguese. 207 points, 9º
4. Finlandia (Yle): The Rasmus – “Jezebel” (Lauri Ylönen / Desmond Child – Lauri Ylönen / Desmond Child). English. 38 points, 21º ^[g]
5. Svizzera: Marius Bear – “Boys do cry” (Jungen weinen) (Marius Bear / Martin Gallop – Marius Bear / Martin Gallop). English. 78 points, 17º
6. Francia (FT2): Alvan and Ahez – “Fulenn” (Spark) (Marine Lavigne – Alexis Morvan Rosius). Breton. 17 points, 24º
7. Norvegia (NRK): Subwoolfer – “Give that wolf a banana” (Gi den ulven en banan) (Jim / Keith / DJ Astronaut – Jim / Keith / DJ Astronaut). English. 182 points, 10º
8. Armenia (ARMTV/AMPTV): Rosa Linn (Ռոզա Լին) – “Snap” (Rosa Linn / Allie Crystal / Courtney Harrell / Jeremy Dusolet / Larzz Principato / Tamar Mardirossian Kaprelian – Rosa Linn / Allie Crystal / Courtney Harrell / Larzz Principato / Tamar Mardirossian Kaprelian). English. 61 points, 20º
9. Italia (RAI): Mahmood and Blanco – “Brividi” (Shivers) (Blanco / Mahmood / Michelangelo – Blanco / Mahmood / Michelangelo). Italian. 268 points, 6º
10. Spagna: Chanel – “SloMo” (Cámara lenta) (Ibere Fortes / Leroy Sánchez / Maggie Szabo – Arjen Thonen / Ibere Fortes / Keith Harris / Leroy Sánchez / Maggie Szabo) withJosh Huerta, Ria Pérez, Raquel Caurín, Exon Arcos and Pol Soto. Spanish, English. 459 points, 3º
11. Ucraina: Kalush Orchestra – “Stefania” (Стефанія) (Ivan Klymenko / Oleh Psiuk – Ihor Didenchuk / Tymofii Muzychuk / Vitalii Duzhyk). Ukrainian. 631 points, 1º
12. Paesi Bassi (AVROTROS): S10 – “De diepte” (The depth) (Stien den Hollander / Arno Krabman – Stien den Hollander / Arno Krabman). Dutch. 6 points, 25º
13. Germania (NDR): Malik Harris – “Rockstars” (Malik Harris / Marianne Kobylka / Robin Karow – Malik Harris / Marianne Kobylka / Robin Karow). English. 128 points, 14º
14. Lituania (LTR): Monika Liu – “Sentimentai” (Sentiments) (Monika Liu – Monika Liu). Lithuanian. 128 points, 14º
15. Azerbaigian (İTV): Nadir Rustamli (Nadir Rüstəmli) – “Fade to Black” (Anderz Wrethov / Andreas Stone / Sebastian Schub / Thomas Stengaard – Anderz Wrethov / Andreas Stone / Sebastian Schub / Thomas Stengaard). English. 106 points, 16º
16. Belgio (RTBF): Jérémie Makiese – “Miss you” (Jérémie Makiese / Manon Romiti / Mike BGRZ / Silvio Lisbonne – Jérémie Makiese / Manon Romiti / Mike BGRZ / Silvio Lisbonne). English. 64 points, 19º
17. Grecia (ERT): Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord (Αμάντα Γεωργιάδη Τένφγιορντ) – “Die together” (Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord – Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord / Bjørn Helge Gammelsæter). English. 215 points, 8º
18. Islanda (RÚV): Systur (Sigga, Beta og Elín) – “Með hækkandi sól” (With the rising sun) (Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir – Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir). Icelandic. 20 points, 23º
19. Moldavia (TRM): Zdob și Zdub and Frații Advahov – “Trenulețul” (The little train) (Mihail Gincu / Roman Iagupov / Vasile Advahov / Vitalie Advahov – Mihail Gincu / Roman Iagupov / Vasile Advahov / Vitalie Advahov). Romanian, English. 253 points, 7º
20. Svezia: Cornelia Jakobs – “Hold Me Closer” (Cornelia Jakobs / David Zandén / Isa Molin – Cornelia Jakobs / David Zandén / Isa Molin). English. 438 points, 4º
21. Australia (SBS): Sheldon Riley – “Not the same” (Sheldon Riley Hernández – Sheldon Riley Hernández / Cam Nacson). English. 125 points, 15º
22. Regno Unito: Sam Ryder – “SPACE MAN” (Sam Ryder / Amy Wadge / Max Wolfgang – Sam Ryder / Amy Wadge / Max Wolfgang). English. 466 points, 2º
23. Polonia (TVP): Ochman – “River” (Krystian Ochman / Ashley Hicklin – Krystian Ochman / Adam Wiśniewski / Ashley Hicklin / Mikołaj Trybulec). English. 151 points, 12º
24. Serbia: Konstrakta (Констракта) – “In corpore sano” (У здравом телу, In a healthy body) (Ana Đurić – Ana Đurić / Milovan Bošković). Serbian, Latin. 312 points, 5º
25. Estonia (ERR): Stefan – “Hope” (Stefan Airapetjan – Stefan Airapetjan / Karl-Ander Reismann). English. 141 points, 13º

Scoreboard: 

Split results (Final)
Place	Combined		Jury		Televoting
	Country	Points	Country	Points	Country	Points
1	🇺🇦 Ukraine	631	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	283	🇺🇦 Ukraine	439
2	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	466	🇸🇪 Sweden	258	🇲🇩 Moldova	239
3	🇪🇸 Spain	459	🇪🇸 Spain	231	🇪🇸 Spain	228
4	🇸🇪 Sweden	438	🇺🇦 Ukraine	192	🇷🇸 Serbia	225
5	🇷🇸 Serbia	312	🇵🇹 Portugal	171	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	183
6	🇮🇹 Italy	268	🇬🇷 Greece	158	🇸🇪 Sweden	180
7	🇲🇩 Moldova	253	🇮🇹 Italy	158	🇳🇴 Norway	146
8	🇬🇷 Greece	215	🇳🇱 The Netherlands	129	🇮🇹 Italy	110
9	🇵🇹 Portugal	207	🇦🇺 Australia	123	🇵🇱 Poland	105
10	🇳🇴 Norway	182	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	103	🇪🇪 Estonia	98
11	🇳🇱 The Netherlands	171	🇷🇸 Serbia	87	🇱🇹 Lithuania	93
12	🇵🇱 Poland	151	🇨🇭 Switzerland	78	🇬🇷 Greece	57
13	🇪🇪 Estonia	141	🇧🇪 Belgium	59	🇷🇴 Romania	53
14	🇱🇹 Lithuania	128	🇵🇱 Poland	46	🇳🇱 The Netherlands	42
15	🇦🇺 Australia	125	🇪🇪 Estonia	43	🇵🇹 Portugal	36
16	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	106	🇦🇲 Armenia	40	🇫🇮 Finland	26
17	🇨🇭 Switzerland	78	🇳🇴 Norway	36	🇦🇲 Armenia	21
18	🇷🇴 Romania	65	🇱🇹 Lithuania	35	🇮🇸 Iceland	10
19	🇧🇪 Belgium	64	🇨🇿 Czech Republic	33	🇫🇷 France	8
20	🇦🇲 Armenia	61	🇲🇩 Moldova	14	🇩🇪 Germany	6
21	🇫🇮 Finland	38	🇷🇴 Romania	12	🇧🇪 Belgium	5
22	🇨🇿 Czech Republic	38	🇫🇮 Finland	12	🇨🇿 Czech Republic	5
23	🇮🇸 Iceland	20	🇮🇸 Iceland	10	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	3
24	🇫🇷 France	17	🇫🇷 France	9	🇦🇺 Australia	2
25	🇩🇪 Germany	6	🇩🇪 Germany	0	🇨🇭 Switzerland	0

Final voting results (jury vote)

		Total score	Televoting score	🇳🇱	🇸🇲	🇲🇰	🇲🇹	🇺🇦	🇦🇱	🇪🇪	🇦🇿	🇵🇹	🇩🇪	🇧🇪	🇳🇴	🇮🇱	🇵🇱	🇬🇷	🇲🇩	🇧🇬	🇷🇸	🇮🇸	🇨🇾	🇱🇻	🇪🇸	🇨🇭	🇩🇰	🇫🇷	🇦🇲	🇲🇪	🇷🇴	🇮🇪	🇸🇮	🇬🇪	🇭🇷	🇱🇹	🇦🇹	🇫🇮	🇬🇧	🇸🇪	🇦🇺	🇨🇿	🇮🇹
C o n t e s t a n t s	🇨🇿 Czech Republic	38	5				3	1						2		2		2			3	2						2				7								5	4
	🇷🇴 Romania	65	53										1					7							4
	🇵🇹 Portugal	207	36	8				10	1	7	7			5	10		7	3	2	4	7	5		6		5	8	1	8	4	7	4	3	7	10	8	10		3		6	5
	🇫🇮 Finland	38	26							5											6																						1
	🇨🇭 Switzerland	78	0	10	1	1		6				2	2		1		5		7	7				3	1		2				5		5		1	7	1		2			6	3
	🇫🇷 France	17	8								1																		7					1
	🇳🇴 Norway	182	146	3									3							2		8		5		1											5	4		3		2
	🇦🇲 Armenia	61	21					2	4			1			4					5								7									6	1		2			8
	🇮🇹 Italy	268	110		3	7	7		12	10	10			8		8	4	1		1		6	1		10	2			10	10	4	6	12	10	4	4	3	2			3
	🇪🇸 Spain	459	228	5	12	12	12		5		5	12	8	10	7	3	1	5	3	8	4	3	6			8	4	5	12	8	1	12	1	5	6	5	2		10	12	12	7
	🇳🇱 The Netherlands	171	42					8	6	1	4	7	4		5	1	3	4				4		4		10	10	4	4	3	3		7	4	2	6	8	5					12
	🇺🇦 Ukraine	631	439		2				7		6	8	10	6	3	7	12		12			10	7	12		3	5	10	6	6	12	3	8	6	8	12					7	4
	🇩🇪 Germany	6	6
	🇱🇹 Lithuania	128	93							2		5			2						2	1		1			3			2			10		7
	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	106	3		7	4	2	5	3	3			6	3				12	1	3	12		10		12					1								3	7	7	2
	🇧🇪 Belgium	64	5	6		3			2							4			4	6	8		2		5			6												1	5		7
	🇬🇷 Greece	215	57	12	10		1	7		6	3	4			12		2			12			12	7	2	12	12	3	2		2		4	3	3		4	6	4			3	10
	🇮🇸 Iceland	20	10									6															1					1				2
	🇲🇩 Moldova	253	239	2														6											1														5
	🇸🇪 Sweden	438	180	1	5	6	10	4	8	12	8		7	7	8	12	10		8		5	12	5	10	7	7	7		5	7	10	10		8	5	3	7	12	12		10	10
	🇦🇺 Australia	125	2	7	6	5	6	3		8			5	1		5	6	8	6				8	2	8	4					6	2						8	6	10		1	2
	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	466	183	4	8	8	8	12	10	4	12	10	12	12	6	10	8		10	10	1	7	3	8	3	6	6	12		5	8	8	2	12		10	12	10		8		12	6
	🇵🇱 Poland	151	105		4	2	4				2					6		10										8						2					8
	🇷🇸 Serbia	312	225			10						3		4									4		6					12		5	6		12	1		7	1	4	8		4
	🇪🇪 Estonia	141	98				5												5		10								3										5	6	1	8

Final voting results (televote)

		Total score	Jury vote score	🇳🇱	🇸🇲	🇲🇰	🇸🇲	🇺🇦	🇦🇱	🇪🇪	🇦🇿	🇵🇹	🇩🇪	🇧🇪	🇳🇴	🇮🇱	🇵🇱	🇬🇷	🇲🇩	🇧🇬	🇷🇸	🇮🇸	🇨🇾	🇱🇻	🇪🇸	🇨🇭	🇩🇰	🇫🇷	🇦🇲	🇲🇪	🇷🇴	🇮🇪	🇸🇮	🇬🇪	🇭🇷	🇱🇹	🇦🇹	🇫🇮	🇬🇧	🇸🇪	🇦🇺	🇨🇿	🇮🇹
C o n t e s t a n t s	🇨🇿 Czech Republic	38	33			5
	🇷🇴 Romania	65	12		1		3											2	10	4	5		4		10			1				2							3				8
	🇵🇹 Portugal	207	171											1			1								4	7		6	4	5						7							1
	🇫🇮 Finland	38	12				1	4	2	8														1										2						7		1
	🇨🇭 Switzerland	78	78
	🇫🇷 France	17	9															1	2		2										1				1			1
	🇳🇴 Norway	182	36	5	2	2	4	2		4	7	2	1			4	4	6	6	1	8	10		5	3		8			2	2	4	3		5	2	5	6	6	10	10	3	4
	🇦🇲 Armenia	61	40																	5			1					5						10
	🇮🇹 Italy	268	158		5	6	10		8		5	3	3	4		3		7		2	4		5		5	8		3		6	4		6		6	3	3				1
	🇪🇸 Spain	459	231	7	10	10	7	1	7	1	10	10	2	6	1	8	6	12	8	8	10	3	8	4		6	1	7	8	8	8	5	4	6	7	6	1	3	5	2	6	6
	🇳🇱 The Netherlands	171	129					3	6	3		4	4	10		2						5											1			1				1			2
	🇺🇦 Ukraine	631	192	12	12	8	8		10	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	10	12	12	7	12	12	12	12	10	12	12	10	10	10	12	10	12	10	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12
	🇩🇪 Germany	6	0							2																2											2
	🇱🇹 Lithuania	128	35			1		10		7		1			10		2		4		3	2	2	10			7		2			8	2	5	3			2	7	3	2
	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	106	103																															3
	🇧🇪 Belgium	65	59	4															1
	🇬🇷 Greece	215	158		7				12		3				7					6			10						3				8	1
	🇮🇸 Iceland	20	10					8																			2
	🇲🇩 Moldova	253	14	10	4	7		6	1	6		8	10	8	4	6	7	3		7	12	6		7	7	4	5	10	5	7	12	7	7	8	8	5	7	5	8		4	8	10
	🇸🇪 Sweden	438	258	2	3	4	5			10	4	7	5	5	8	5	10	4	5		1	8		6	6	3	10		7	1	6	3	5		4	10	6	8	4		5	5	5
	🇦🇺 Australia	125	123								2
	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	466	283	8	6		12	7	4	5	8	6	6	3	6	10	3	5	3	3		7	6	3	8	5	6	2	1		3	6		4		4	8	4		6	7	2	6
	🇵🇱 Poland	151	46	6			2	12			1		8	7	5	1						4	3		1	1	4	4		4		10					4		10	5	3	7	3
	🇷🇸 Serbia	312	87	3	8	12	6		3		6	5	7	2	3	7	5	8		10		1	7	2	2	12		8	6	12	7	1	12	7	12		10	7	1	8	8	10	7
	🇪🇪 Estonia	141	43	1		3		5	5						2		8		7		6			8			3		12	3	5				2	8		10	2	4		4

12 points: Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country’s professional jury and televote in the final. Countries in bold gave the maximum 24 points (12 points apiece from professional jury and televoting) to the specified entrant.

12 points awarded by juries

N.	Contestant	Nation(s) giving 12 points
8	🇪🇸 Spain	🇦🇲 Armenia, 🇦🇺 Australia, 🇮🇪 Ireland, 🇲🇹 Malta, 🇲🇰 North Macedonia, 🇵🇹 Portugal, 🇸🇲 San Marino, 🇸🇪 Sweden
	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	🇦🇹 Austria, 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan, 🇧🇪 Belgium, 🇨🇿 Czech Republic, 🇫🇷 France, 🇬🇪 Georgia, 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇺🇦 Ukraine
6	🇬🇷 Greece	🇧🇬 Bulgaria, 🇨🇾 Cyprus, 🇩🇰 Denmark, 🇳🇱 The Netherlands, 🇳🇴 Norway, 🇨🇭  Switzerland
5	🇸🇪 Sweden	🇪🇪 Estonia, 🇫🇮 Finland, 🇮🇸 Iceland, 🇮🇱 Israel, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
	🇺🇦 Ukraine	🇱🇻Lettonia 🇵🇱Poland, 🇷🇴Romania
3	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	🇬🇷 Greece, 🇷🇸 Serbia, 🇪🇸 Spain
2	🇮🇹 Italy	🇦🇱 Albania, 🇸🇮 Slovenia
	🇷🇸 Serbia	🇭🇷Croatia, 🇲🇪 Montenegro
1	🇳🇱 The Netherlands	🇮🇹 Italy

12 points awarded by televoting

N.	Contestant	Nation(s) giving 12 points
28	🇺🇦 Ukraine	🇦🇺 Australia, 🇦🇹 Austria, 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan, 🇧🇪 Belgium, 🇧🇬 Bulgaria, 🇨🇾 Cyprus, 🇨🇿 Czech Republic, 🇩🇰 Denmark, 🇪🇪 Estonia, 🇫🇮 Finland, 🇫🇷 France, 🇬🇪 Georgia, 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇮🇸 Iceland, 🇮🇪 Ireland, 🇮🇱 Israel, 🇮🇹 Italy, 🇱🇻 Latvia, 🇱🇹 Lithuania, 🇲🇩 Moldova, 🇳🇱 The Netherlands, 🇳🇴 Norway, 🇵🇱 Poland, 🇵🇹 Portugal, 🇸🇲 San Marino, 🇪🇸 Spain, 🇸🇪 Sweden, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
5	🇷🇸 Serbia	🇭🇷 Croatia, 🇲🇪 Montenegro, 🇲🇰 North Macedonia, 🇸🇮 Slovenia, 🇨🇭  Switzerland
2	🇲🇩 Moldova	🇷🇴 Romania, 🇷🇸 Serbia
1	🇪🇪 Estonia	🇦🇲 Armenia
	🇬🇷 Greece	🇦🇱 Albania
	🇵🇱 Poland	🇺🇦 Ukraine
	🇪🇸 Spain	🇬🇷 Greece
	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	🇲🇹 Malta

Spokespersons: The spokespersons announced the 12-point score from their respective country’s national jury in the following order:

5.Other countries. Eligibility for potential participation in the Eurovision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active EBU membership that would be able to broadcast the contest via the Eurovision network. The EBU issued an invitation to participate in the contest to all active members. Associate member Australia does not need an invitation for the 2022 contest, as it had previously been granted permission to participate at least until 2023.

5.1.Active EBU members.

• Andorra – On 1 August 2020, during an interview on Eurovision fansite Wiwibloggs’ podcast, the 2009 Andorran representative Susanne Georgi revealed that she had held a meeting with Prime Minister of Andorra Xavier Espot Zamora, during which they called for the country to make a return in 2022, having not returned for the previous year’s contest due to the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Andorra. However, on 19 June 2021, the Andorran broadcaster Ràdio i Televisió d’Andorra (RTVA) stated that the principality would not return in 2022. Andorra last took part in 2009.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina – In June 2021, Bosnian broadcaster Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT) stated that it was unlikely that the country would return to the contest in the upcoming years, unless sufficient funding to do so is secured. On 12 October 2021, BHRT confirmed that Bosnia and Herzegovina would not return in 2022. Bosnia and Herzegovina last took part in 2016.
• Turkey – In June 2021, it was confirmed by both the EBU and İbrahim Eren, the director general of Turkish national broadcaster Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), that they were in talks about the country potentially returning to the contest in 2022. However, Turkey did not appear on the final list of participants released by the EBU. Turkey last took part in 2012.

5.2.Non-EBU members.

• Belarus – On 28 May 2021, the EBU Executive Board agreed to suspend the membership of Belarusian broadcaster BTRC as a result of its use by the Belarusian government as a propaganda tool. The broadcaster was given two weeks to respond before the suspension came into effect, but did not do so publicly. BTRC was expelled from the EBU on 1 July for a period of three years, therefore losing the rights to broadcast and participate in any Eurovision event until 1 July 2024; the broadcaster subsequently released a statement affirming that they would not be supporting Belarus’ participation in upcoming years, including 2022. Belarus last took part in 2019, having intended to compete in the cancelled 2020 contest and having been disqualified from the 2021 contest.
• Liechtenstein – Liechtensteiner broadcaster 1 FL TV did not debut in the 2022 contest due to the high costs of participation. The broadcaster had attempted to become an EBU member in the past but halted its plans when its director, Peter Kölbel, unexpectedly died. It would also need the backing of the Liechtenstein government to be able to carry the cost of becoming an EBU member and paying the participation fee for the contest.
• Russia – Despite initially appearing on the list of participants, on 25 February 2022, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and increasing protests from other participating countries, the EBU announced that Russia would be excluded from the 2022 contest. The next day, all EBU members from Russia, including VGTRK and Channel One, announced their withdrawal from the union; however, the EBU itself had yet to receive a confirmation. On 1 March, a further statement from the EBU announced that it had suspended its Russian members from its governance structures. Confirmation of withdrawal from the EBU will cause Russia to lose broadcasting and participation rights for future Eurovision events.

6.Broadcasts. All participating broadcasters may choose to have on-site or remote commentators providing an insight about the show and voting information to their local audience. While they must broadcast at least the semi-final they are voting in and the final, most broadcasters air all three shows with different programming plans. Similarly, some non-participating broadcasters may still want to air the contest.

The European Broadcasting Union provided international live streams of both semi-finals and the final through their official YouTube channel with no commentary, and through their official TikTok channel with an additional backstage feed. The YouTube live streams were geo-blocked to viewers in the Czech Republic, Greece, United Kingdom and the United States. After the live broadcasts, all three shows were made available for every country listed above except the United States.

RAI produced and broadcast the contest in 4K UHD, for the first time in the event’s history. The contest was aired on Rai 4K as an upscaled version of the HD feed, as RAI had yet to be fully equipped for broadcast of native 4K content.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries (Country – Show(s) – Broadcaster(s) – Commentator(s)):

Country	Show(s)	Broadcaster(s)	Commentator(s)
Albania	All shows	RTSH, RTSH Muzikë, Radio Tirana	Andri Xhahu
Armenia	All shows	Armenia 1, Public Radio of Armenia	Garik Papoyan and Hrachuhi Utmazyan [hy]
Australia	All shows	SBS	Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey
Austria	All shows	ORF 1	Andi Knoll
	Final	FM4	Kurdwin Ayub, Florian Alexander, Hannes Duscher and Roland Gratzer
Azerbaijan	All shows	İTV	Murad Arif
Belgium	All shows	één	Dutch: Peter Van de Veire
	All shows	La Une, VivaCité	French: Jean-Louis Lahaye [fr] and Maureen Louys
Bulgaria	All shows	BNT 1, BNT 4	Elena Rosberg and Petko Kralev
Croatia	All shows	HRT 1	Duško Ćurlić
		HR 2	Zlatko Turkalj [hr]
Cyprus	All shows	RIK 1, RIK HD, RIK Sat	Melina Karageorgiou and Alexandros Taramountas
Czech Republic	All shows	ČT2	Jan Maxián [cs]
Denmark	All shows	DR1	Henrik Milling [da] and Nicolai Molbech
Estonia	All shows	ETV	Estonian: Marko Reikop
		ETV+	Russian: Aleksandr Hobotov and Julia Kalenda
Finland	All shows	Yle TV1, Yle Areena [fi]	Finnish: Mikko Silvennoinen Swedish: Eva Frantz [fi] and Johan Lindroos Russian: Levan Tvaltvadze Inari Sami: Heli Huovinen Northern Sami: Aslak Paltto [fi]
		Yle Radio Suomi	Finnish: Sanna Pirkkalainen and Toni Laaksonen [fi]
		Yle X3M	Swedish: Eva Frantz and Johan Lindroos
France	Semi-finals	Culturebox	French: Laurence Boccolini
	Final	France 2	French: Stéphane Bern and Laurence Boccolini
		France 3 Bretagne	Breton: Goulwena an Henaff [fr], Yann-Herle, Thelo Mell and Mael Gwenneg
Georgia	All shows	1TV	Nika Lobiladze
Germany	All shows	One	Peter Urban
	Final	Das Erste, Deutsche Welle
Greece	All shows	ERT1, Deftero Programma, Voice of Greece	Maria Kozakou and Giorgos Kapoutzidis
Iceland	All shows	RÚV, RÚV 2	Gísli Marteinn Baldursson
	Final	Rás 2
Ireland	Semi-finals	RTÉ2	Marty Whelan
	Final	RTÉ One
	SF2	RTÉ Radio 1	Neil Doherty and Zbyszek Zalinski
	Final
Israel	All shows	Kan 11, Kan Educational, Kan Tarbut	Asaf Liberman [he] and Akiva Novick [he]
Italy	All shows	Rai 1, Rai 4K [it], Rai Italia	Gabriele Corsi [it], Cristiano Malgioglio and Carolina Di Domenico
		Rai Radio 2	Ema Stokholma [it], Gino Castaldo [it] and Saverio Raimondo [it]
		RaiPlay	The Jackal [it]
Latvia	All shows	LTV1	Toms Grēviņš [lv] and Lauris Reiniks
Lithuania	All shows	LRT televizija, LRT Radijas	Ramūnas Zilnys
Malta	All shows	TVM	No commentary
Moldova	All shows	Moldova 1, Radio Moldova	Ion Jalbă and Daniela Crudu
Montenegro	All shows	RTCG 1	Unknown
Netherlands	All shows	NPO 1, BVN	Cornald Maas and Jan Smit
	Final	NPO Radio 2	Frank van ‘t Hof [nl] and Jeroen Kijk in de Vegte
North Macedonia	All shows	MRT 1, MRT 2	Unknown
Norway	All shows	NRK1	Marte Stokstad [no]
	Final	NRK P1	Jon Marius Hyttebakk and Marit Sofie Strand
Poland	All shows	TVP1, TVP Polonia	Aleksander Sikora [pl] and Marek Sierocki [pl]
Portugal	All shows[t]	RTP1, RTP Internacional, RTP África	Nuno Galopim
Romania	SF1	TVR 1, TVRi	Bogdan Stănescu
	SF2/Final		Bogdan Stănescu and Kyrie Mendél
San Marino	All shows	San Marino RTV, Radio San Marino	Lia Fiorio and Gigi Restivo
Serbia	SF1	RTS 1, RTS Planeta, RTS Svet	Silvana Grujić
	SF2/Final		Duška Vučinić
Slovenia	Semi-finals	TV SLO 2	Andrej Hofer [sl]
	Final	TV SLO 1
	SF1/Final	Radio Val 202, Radio Maribor [sl]
Spain	All shows	La 1, TVE Internacional	Tony Aguilar and Julia Varela
	Final	Radio Nacional	Imanol Durán, Sara Calvo and David Asensio
Sweden	Semi-finals	SVT1	Edward af Sillén
	Final		Edward af Sillén and Linnea Henriksson
	All shows	SR P4	Carolina Norén
Switzerland	Semi-finals	SRF zwei	German: Sven Epiney
	SF2	SRF info
	Final	SRF 1
	Semi-finals	RTS 2	French: Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner
	Final	RTS 1	French: Jean-Marc Richard and Gjon’s Tears
	SF1	RSI La 2	Italian: Clarissa Tami [it] and Francesca Margiotta
	SF2		Italian: Clarissa Tami and Boris Piffaretti
	Final	RSI La 1	Italian: Clarissa Tami, Francesca Margiotta and Boris Piffaretti
Ukraine	All shows	UA:Kultura	Timur Miroshnychenko
	Semi-finals[u]	UA:Radio Promin [uk]
	Final		Anna Zakletska and Dmytro Zakharchenko
United Kingdom	Semi-finals	BBC Three	Scott Mills and Rylan Clark
	Final	BBC One	Graham Norton
		BBC Radio 2	Ken Bruce

Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries (Country – Show(s) – Broadcaster(s) – Commentator(s)):

Country/Territory	Show(s)	Broadcaster(s)	Commentator(s)
Kosovo	All shows	RTK	Unknown
Slovakia	Final	Rádio FM	Daniel Baláž [sk], Pavol Hubinák and Juraj Malíček [sk]
United States	All shows	Peacock	Johnny Weir
	Final	WJFD-FM	Ewan Spence and Alesia Michelle

Viewing figures: According to the EBU, in total 161 million people watched at least one minute of the television broadcasts, and 18 million people watched the online broadcasts.

Breakdown of viewing figures (in millions)

Country	Semi-final 1		Semi-final 2		Final		Ref(s)
	Viewership	Average viewership	Viewership	Average viewership	Viewership	Average viewership
Australia					0.17 (live) 0.2 (delay)		–
Austria		0.42	0.23		0.5		–
Belgium	0.58 (één)		0.71 (één)		1.07 (één)		–
	0.11 (La Une)		0.28 (La Une)		0.35 (La Une)
Cyprus						0.08	–
Czech Republic					0.14		–
Denmark	0.48				0.53		–
Estonia			0.2		0.23		–
Finland	0.9	0.4	1.49	0.75	2.1	1	–
France						3.18	–
Germany	0.5		0.67		6.54		–
Greece		0.64			1.96		–
Ireland						0.31	–
Israel					0.2		–
Italy		5.51		5.54	6.6		–
Lithuania					1	0.8	–
Netherlands	2.29		1.61		6.8	3.1	–
Norway	0.62				1.2		–
Poland	1.1		2.63		3.66[v]		–
Portugal	0.78		0.38			1.03	–
Romania	0.13		0.15		0.37		–
Serbia			1.8			1.2	–
Slovenia		0.14		0.06		0.12	–
Spain	1.25		1.49		6.8		–
Sweden	0.88		1.25		2.9		–
United Kingdom	0.55					8.9	–
Total	161 (TV broadcasts)						–
	18 (online broadcasts)

Incidents

7.Incidents.

7.1.Russo–Ukrainian crisis.

Ukrainian artist replacement. Following the controversy surrounding the Ukrainian national selection in 2019, which led to the country withdrawing from the contest that year, a new rule was introduced starting from 2020 which bars artists who have performed in Russia since 2014 or have entered Crimea “in violation of the legislation of Ukraine” from entering the selection. The 2022 Ukrainian national selection was won by Alina Pash with the song “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors”. On 14 February 2022, two days after the selection, activist and video blogger Serhii Sternenko alleged that Pash had entered Crimea from Russian territory in 2015, and counterfeited her travel documentation with her team in order to take part in the selection. The Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC subsequently stated that they would request the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service to verify if the documentation is forged, and that Pash would not officially be the Ukrainian representative at the contest “until the verification and clarification of the facts is completed”. After it was discovered that a representative of Pash’s team had handed in falsified documentation to UA:PBC, on 16 February, Pash announced that she would withdraw her candidacy as the Ukrainian representative at the contest. Runner-up of the selection, Kalush Orchestra with the song “Stefania”, were given an offer to represent Ukraine in Pash’s place on 17 February, and a final decision was expected to be made during a meeting on 18 February. On 22 February, UA:PBC confirmed that Kalush Orchestra had accepted the offer.

Following the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, UA:PBC and Kalush Orchestra had yet to formally comment on whether their participation would continue. On 14 March, Claudio Fasulo and Simona Martorelli, executive producers of the 2022 contest, confirmed that Ukraine would still be competing; this was later reaffirmed by UA:PBC on 19 March via a post on its social media pages. They added that work would commence on the Ukrainian ‘live-on-tape’ backup performance, which is planned to be recorded in Lviv and used in the event that the delegation cannot travel to Turin.

Russian exclusion. In the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February, UA:PBC appealed to suspend Russian EBU member broadcasters VGTRK and Channel One from the union, and to exclude Russia from competing in the contest. The appeal alleged that since the beginning of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine in 2014, VGTRK and Channel One have been a mouthpiece for the Russian government and a key tool of political propaganda financed from the Russian state budget. The EBU initially stated that Russia as well as Ukraine would still be allowed to participate in the contest, citing the non-political nature of the event.

Several broadcasters expressed their concern at the decision and issued statements calling for the removal of Russia from the contest. In addition to Ukraine’s UA:PBC, nine other countries’ broadcasters requested the EBU to change the decision: Denmark’s DR, Estonia’s ERR, Finland’s Yle, Iceland’s RÚV, Lithuania’s LRT, the Netherlands’ AVROTROS, Norway’s NRK, Poland’s TVP and Sweden’s SVT. Yle also stated that they would withdraw their participation if Russia were not excluded from the contest. This was followed by a similar announcement from ERR. Latvian representatives Citi Zēni also urged the EBU to reconsider Russian participation. On 25 February 2022, the EBU announced that Russia would not compete at the contest, stating that “in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year’s Contest would bring the competition into disrepute.” The following day, all EBU members from Russia, including VGTRK and Channel One, announced their withdrawal from the union, according to a statement released by Russian state media. Russia had not publicly announced an artist or song before being excluded.

In response to the ban on Russian artists in the 2022 Eurovision contest, the government of Russia created its own music festival, Rusovidenie (Русовидение) or Rusovision. Within this festival, domestic and international artists were planned to perform for prizes, including artists from China, India, Kazakhstan, Serbia, and the separatist-held areas within eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian preparations. Following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, UA:PBC and Kalush Orchestra had yet to formally comment on whether their participation in the contest would continue. On 14 March 2022, Claudio Fasulo and Simona Martorelli, executive producers of the 2022 contest, confirmed that Ukraine would still be competing; this was later reaffirmed by UA:PBC on 19 March via a post on its social media pages.They added that work would commence on the Ukrainian ‘live-on-tape’ backup performance, which was recorded in Lviv and to be used in the event that the delegation cannot travel to Turin. On 2 April, UA:PBC confirmed that Kalush Orchestra and the rest of the delegation was given permission to travel to Turin for the contest, adding that the group would also take part in promotional events across Europe to raise donations for war relief efforts

Rehearsal stage malfunction. During the first day of rehearsals in Turin on 30 April 2022, Italian newspapers La Repubblica and La Stampa reported technical difficulties with the ‘kinetic sun’ component of the stage, with its arches not being able to move as freely as expected. The papers also reported that the malfunction could not be completely fixed in time for the live shows. Several delegations, among them those from Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland and Lithuania, were forced to revise their staging plans, having been informed of the malfunction a few days prior. La Stampa later reported the following day that a compromise was reached, in which the arches would stay static for the competing entries’ performances, while for the opening and interval acts, the arches would be permitted to move dynamically. This was later confirmed by the EBU in a statement issued to Danish broadcaster DR on 2 May.

Macedonian flag incident. During the “Turquoise Carpet” event on 8 May 2022, the Macedonian representative Andrea was seen throwing the Macedonian flag on the ground before posing for the press. The Macedonian broadcaster MRT later published a statement condemning her action, describing it as “desecration of a national symbol, which is punishable by Macedonian law”. In the same statement, the broadcaster stated that they were considering withdrawing Andrea from the contest, and that people in delegation that are deemed responsible for the incident would be sanctioned. Andrea herself issued an apology later that day. MRT later stated on 11 May that they would take all disciplinary measures after the delegation returns from Turin, while also raising the possibility that they would not return for the 2023 contest, because of the negative publicity caused by the incident.

Attempted cyber attacks. On 11 May 2022, pro-Russian hacking group Killnet carried out an attack on numerous Italian institutional websites, including those of the Ministry of Defense, the Senate, the National Health Institute and the Automobile Club d’Italia. The official website of the Eurovision Song Contest was later revealed to be among those that were targeted, in addition to the platform on which the contest’s voting system is based. Additional attacks were reported to have taken place during the first semi-final and the final. The attacks were ultimately unsuccessful, and there were no disruptions to either the website or the voting platform.

Brief absence of Laura Pausini. During the jury voting segment of the final, co-presenter Laura Pausini was mostly absent, leaving her other two colleagues Alessandro Cattelan and Mika to fill in for her, which left them briefly flustered and caused some delays as Cattelan had to run between the stage and green room for interviews. Pausini returned to the stage shortly before the televoting segment without immediately commenting on her absence. She later stated on her Instagram account that she had sudden low blood pressure and was told by her doctors to take a short break. On 18 May 2022, four days after the final, Pausini announced that she had tested positive for COVID-19, the fatigue from which was the cause of her absence.

Jury vote irregurlarities. In a statement released during the broadcast of the final, the EBU revealed that during the jury show of the second semi-final on 11 May 2022, six national juries, namely those of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania and San Marino, were found to have had irregular voting patterns. As a result, these six countries were given substitute aggregated jury results for the second semi-final and the final based on countries with similar voting patterns, as determined by the pots that the countries were put into for the semi-final allocation draw in January. The Flemish broadcaster VRT later reported that the juries of the countries involved had made agreements to vote for each other.

During the announcement of the jury votes in the final, Azerbaijan, Romania and Georgia had their votes announced by Martin Österdahl, the contest’s executive supervisor. This was stated to have been due to technical difficulties in establishing connection with those countries’ designated spokespersons. The spokespersons who would have announced them were Narmin Salmanova, Eda Marcus and Helen Kalandadze respectively. A press release from the Romanian broadcaster TVR on 20 May revealed that the reason for Österdahl’s intervention on behalf of the Romanian spokesperson was due to TVR’s refusal to accept the aggregate scores calculated by the EBU.

The day after the final, TVR accused the EBU of “changing the rules” and requested further clarification of the incident. In their original decision, the Romanian jury awarded 12 points to Moldova. The Georgian broadcaster GPB and the Azerbaijani broadcaster İTV also requested a more detailed statement on the jury vote issues, disclosing that their juries’ 12 points were originally awarded to Ukraine. The Montenegrin broadcaster RTCG and the Polish broadcaster TVP also requested more clarification on the issue. In addition, TVR and İTV claimed that no technical difficulties had occurred during the jury voting segment of the final.

On 19 May 2022, the EBU released the full breakdown of the nullified jury votes from the second semi-final. RTCG, TVR and the Sammarinese broadcaster SMRTV denied any wrongdoing on their part, with the former two claiming that other irregular voting patterns existed but were not detected. TVR also threatened to withdraw from the contest for 2023 and future editions, while also planning to take legal action against the EBU in response.

Ukrainian jury vote disputes: The Ukrainian jury votes in the final faced scrutiny on Ukrainian and Polish social media. While the Polish jury awarded 12 points to Ukraine, the Ukrainian jury did not award Poland any points (the Ukrainian televote awarded 12 points to Poland regardless); this led to some suggesting that the Ukrainian jury votes might have been affected by pro-Russian agents intending to damage Polish–Ukrainian relations. Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland Andrii Deshchytsia and the Ukrainian minister of culture Oleksandr Tkachenko criticized the jury’s decision, with the latter calling it “embarrassing”. The Ukrainian jury members stated that their votes represented their own views, and were not related to any political considerations.

Russia–Ukraine relations in the Eurovision Song Contest. Russia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, a pan-European music competition, since 1994, while Ukraine has participated since 2003. Russia and Ukraine have had positive relations, and have exchanged top-3 points with each other several times over the years. Barring a minor dispute over Ukraine’s 2007 entry “Dancing Lasha Tumbai” (whose title was alleged to be a mondegreen of “Russia goodbye”, but was defended by its performer as being meaningless), notable conflicts began to emerge between the two countries at Eurovision in the wake of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

In 2016, Ukraine’s entry was “1944”, a song by Jamala that was inspired by her great-grandmother’s experiences during the deportation of the Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union. The song was criticised by Russian officials, who argued that it violated Eurovision rules against political content due to its allusions to the Crimean crisis. “1944” would ultimately win the contest. While there were calls for Russia to boycott the Ukraine-hosted 2017 contest over the ongoing conflicts in Eastern Ukraine, Russia did unveil an entrant—Yuliya Samoylova. However, after she was unveiled, it was reported that Samoylova had been banned from entering Ukraine for three years for violating a Ukrainian ban on direct travel to Crimea from Russia. The EBU attempted to reconcile the issues so that Samoylova could perform, calling upon the Ukrainian government to remove or defer her travel ban for the contest, and offering Russia the opportunity to perform their song from a remote venue. However, Russia’s delegate broadcaster, Channel One Russia, passed on the offer, wanting to have Samoylova perform in Kyiv as with all other entrants. On 13 April 2017, Channel One announced that it would not broadcast the contest, effectively withdrawing.

Prior to the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Ukraine retracted its entry, Maruv, who had been prominently Russia-based, after she refused to sign the participation contract, causing Ukraine to withdraw from the contest for the first time since 2015.

Ahead of the 2022 contest in Turin, controversy again emerged in the Ukrainian national selection, resulting in its winner Alina Pash replaced by runner-up Kalush Orchestra as the Ukrainian entry.

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent protests from other participating countries, Russia was excluded from participating in the contest altogether.

2007 contest. Verka Serduchka was chosen to represent Ukraine at the 2007 contest with the song “Dancing Lasha Tumbai”. However, it was alleged that the song had contained political subtext, including a reference in its lyrics to Maidan (the site of the Orange Revolution demonstrations), and that the phrase “Lasha Tumbai” was a mondegreen of “Russia goodbye”. Serduchka denied these allegations, claiming that the phrase “lasha tumbai” was Mongolian for “churned butter”. On the Russian talk show Пусть говорят (“Let them talk”), which aired on Channel One Russia just after the final of the contest, a native Mongolian speaker explained that the phrase “Lasha Tumbai” does not exist in the Mongolian language. Serduchka later stated that “Lasha Tumbai” was a meaningless phrase meant to rhyme with other lyrics.

2014 and 2015 contests. In the wake of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and subsequent annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, as well as the introduction of a “gay propaganda” law in Russia in 2013, public opposition to Russia had been markedly visible on multiple fronts, including the Eurovision Song Contest. The Russian entrants at the 2014 and 2015 contests, the Tolmachevy Sisters and Polina Gagarina respectively, were the subject of booing from the audience, in particular at any time they were mentioned or awarded points. Commenting on the booing at the Tolmachevy Sisters, Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator magazine, wrote: “I can’t remember the last time I heard a Eurovision audience boo anyone; during the Iraq war in 2003, no one booed Britain. […] There’s a difference between the Russian government and the Russian people, and the girls were there to represent the latter. They didn’t deserve the obloquy. And the Danes were wrong to have made the booing so audible.” The excessive booing in 2014 led the organisers of the 2015 contest to install ‘anti-booing technology’, which was deployed for the first time in the history of the contest.

2016 contest. Jamala, who represented Ukraine at the 2016 contest, won with the song “1944”. The lyrics for her song concern the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, in the 1940s, by the Soviet Union at the hands of Joseph Stalin because of their alleged collaboration with the Nazis. Jamala explained that the lyrics were inspired by the story of her great-grandmother Nazylkhan, who was in her mid-20s when she and her five children were deported to barren Central Asia. One of the daughters did not survive the journey. Eurovision’s official rules state that “no lyrics, speeches, gestures of political or similar nature shall be permitted,” so Jamala repeatedly stated that her song was not referencing the 2014 annexation of Crimea, but her own personal family history. She stated, “I needed that song to free myself, to release the memory of my great-grandmother, the memory of that girl who has no grave.” However, she also referenced the current state of Crimea post-annexation, saying “Of course [the song is] about 2014 as well.” “Now the Crimean Tatars are on occupied territory and it is very hard for them. They are under tremendous pressure. Some have disappeared without a trace. And that is terrifying. I would not want to see history repeat itself.”

Russian officials, including multiple MPs and Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were dissatisfied with the outcome and said that the song was a political statement and an allusion on the 2014 annexation of Crimea, forbidden by the rules of the contest. Zakharova wrote in a Facebook post that the next Eurovision winner might as well be about the conflict in Syria, proposing the lyrics: “Assad blood, Assad worst. Give me prize, that we can host.” Other officials suggested boycotting the 2017 contest, with Franz Klintsevich, deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security stating, “It was not the Ukrainian singer Jamala and her song ‘1944’ that won Eurovision 2016, it was politics that beat art. If nothing changes in Ukraine by next year, then I don’t think we need to take part.”

Despite this, Russia’s entrant Sergey Lazarev, who placed third in the competition, congratulated Jamala on her win.

2017 contest. The Russian military intervention in Ukraine, which began in late February 2014, prompted a number of governments to apply sanctions against individuals, businesses and officials from Russia. In 2015, the Ukrainian government began to blacklist people who supported the 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia, from entering the country. Deputy Prime Minister Vyacheslav Kyrylenko stated that the country would not lift this ban for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) iterated that their goal was for Eurovision to remain inclusive, and that they were “engaging in constructive dialogue with the National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (NTKU) and the Ukrainian authorities to ensure that all delegates and artists can come and stay in Ukraine”. A representative of the host broadcaster told Billboard that the blacklist rules were beyond their control. On 3 March 2017, Russian politician Vitaly Milonov called upon the country to withdraw from the 2017 contest amid fears of the ongoing conflict in Eastern Ukraine. He described Russia as being “unwelcome guests in a country seized by fanatics”.

Russian selection, travel ban. It was reported on 13 March 2017 that Ukraine was investigating Yuliya Samoylova, Russia’s entrant at the 2017 contest, for having violated a ban on direct travel to Crimea from Russia; she had visited Kerch in 2015 to give a performance. Ukrainian officials have speculated that Russia’s choice of Samoylova may have been a deliberate political statement, having knowingly picked a singer who had performed in the disputed territory in order to instigate a political controversy; interior minister adviser Anton Herashchenko stated that he could not “exclude that actions could be taken by our side to deny her entry” if Russia was using the entry as a “provocation”, while the deputy director of ATR, a Ukrainian television broadcaster that serves the Crimean Tatar population, argued that it was a “cynical and immoral move”. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin stated that he considers the choice of Samoylova as the Eurovision participant is most likely to be a provocation from Russia. Later the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko stated the same.[25] Ben Royston, who had advised past Eurovision delegations in Azerbaijan and Sweden, argued that Russia’s choice of a performer with a disability may have also been deliberate, explaining to The Guardian that “[Russia] chose a wheelchair-bound contestant who had made pro-Russian statements about Crimea on social media. She was never going to be allowed in Ukraine, but they chose her anyway. And now Russia are very publicly saying: ‘How can Ukraine let this poor sweet girl in a wheelchair be the victim of your laws?’ It seems clearly all part of the Russia PR machine.” Russia has denied that their choice of performer was meant to be a political statement, and stated that their choice of a performer with a disability was meant to be an expression of diversity.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) confirmed on 22 March 2017 that Samoylova had been banned from entering Ukraine for three years for illegally travelling to Crimea from Russia, thus violating article 204-2 of Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses. The EBU responded by stating that it was continuing to ensure that all entrants would be able to perform in Kyiv, but that “we are deeply disappointed in this decision as we feel it goes against both the spirit of the contest and the notion of inclusiveness that lies at the heart of its values”, and also stated that EBU will respect the laws of hosting country. Frants Klintsevich, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defence and Security, threatened that Russia would boycott Eurovision unless its organisers declared the government decision to be “unacceptable”. He also accused them of being “completely politicised and biased”.

Attempts to reconcile. The EBU offered a compromise to Channel One Russia on 23 March 2017, in which Samoylova would be allowed to perform remotely from a venue of the broadcaster’s choice; it would have been the first time that a Eurovision entry had been performed from an outside venue via satellite. However, Channel One declined the offer, arguing that Samoylova should be allowed to perform on-stage in Kyiv as with every other entrant, and accusing Ukraine of violating assurances in the Eurovision rules that all performers would be issued the appropriate visas so they could enter the host country. Vice Prime Minister Vyacheslav Kyrylenko had stated that it is illegal for persona non grata to participate in tours or television programmes. Jon Ola Sand, executive supervisor of the contest, stated in an interview with the Danish national broadcaster DR, that he and other members of the European Broadcasting Union had contacted the Ukrainian Security Services about the possibilities of delaying the imposed ban until after the 2017 contest had concluded.

EBU general director Ingrid Deltenre stated that Ukraine’s behaviour was “absolutely unacceptable”, and abused the Eurovision Song Contest ethos for “political action”. Deltenre further went on to say that the EBU were in talks with Ukrainian prime minister Volodymyr Groysman and president Petro Poroshenko, in regards to delaying the ban until after the contest. On 1 April 2017, Deltenre threatened to ban Ukraine from future competitions if Samoylova is not allowed to participate. In response to this, UA:PBC urged the EBU to respect the sovereignty of Ukraine.

Withdrawal. In an interview with German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel published on 26 March 2017, the contest’s Reference Group chairman Frank-Dieter Freiling noted that Russia’s participation in the contest seemed to be unclear, acknowledging that Samoylova had not participated in mandatory previewing sessions prior to the ban, nor had the Russian delegation reserved any accommodations in Kyiv for the contest. He suggested that Russia may have been aware that their selection would be problematic.

On 13 April 2017, Channel One announced that it would not broadcast the 2017 contest. The EBU considered the decision to be an official withdrawal from the contest.

Reactions from other EBU members.

• San Marino – Carlo Romeo, Director General of the Sanmarinese national broadcaster San Marino RTV (SMRTV), reacted to the decision to ban Samoylova as unacceptable behaviour, that the broadcaster does not care about conspiracy or provocation towards the Russian entrant, and that the song contest is about being on “neutral ground”.
• Denmark – Jan Lagermand Lundme, Head of Entertainment of the Danish national broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR), stated in an interview on 25 March 2017 that the 2017 contest has become a “political battleground”, and was fairly satisfied with the work the EBU was carrying out in order to resolve the issue on the ban imposed by Ukraine.
• Germany – Head of Entertainment for the German broadcaster ARD, Thomas Schreiber, reacted to the situation during an interview with Deutsche Welle. Schreiber stated that the situation between Russia and Ukraine was of a critical nature, and that he felt that both the Russian broadcaster and the Ukrainian authorities were to blame and that the resolution was dependent on the goodwill of both parties.
• Serbia – Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) stated in 14 April 2017 that they regret the situation and believed that Eurovision should be a place of unity of the nations, and not to divide them. RTS went on to mention about a similar period of difficulty they endured, when they were expelled from the organisation between 1992 and 2004 for political reasons.

2019 contest. Controversy emerged during the Ukrainian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 regarding contestants’ ties to Russia. During the final of the competition on 23 February 2019, jury members Jamala, Andriy Danylko, and Yevhen Filatov interrogated several contestants regarding their thoughts on Russia, mainly focusing on Maruv and Anna Maria. Jamala asked Maruv on whether Maruv believed Crimea was Ukrainian territory, to which she agreed. Anna Maria were asked, if they had to choose between the two, would they choose their country of Ukraine or their mother, who worked for the Russian-led government of Crimea. During the final, it was announced by the Ukrainian broadcaster, UA:PBC, that the broadcaster had reserved the right to change the decision made by the jury and Ukrainian public.

After Maruv was declared the winner of the selection, it was confirmed she was not yet confirmed as the Ukrainian representative, and discussions would take place between Maruv and the Ukrainian broadcaster. It emerged that Maruv’s representative was sent a contract which she had a 48 hour deadline to sign in order to represent Ukraine. A major feature of the contract was that she must cancel all upcoming performances and appearances in Russia within 24 hours. Maruv later revealed that the broadcaster’s contract had additionally banned her from improvising on stage and communicating with any journalist without the permission of the broadcaster, and required her to fully comply with any requests from the broadcaster. If she were to not follow any of these clauses, she would be fined ₴2 million (~€67,000). Maruv also stated that the broadcaster would not give her any financial compensation for the competition and would not pay for the trip to Tel Aviv.

On 25 February, both Maruv and the broadcaster confirmed that she would not represent Ukraine in Israel due to disputes over the contract, and that another act would be chosen. Viktor Taran, a board member for UA:PBC, later revealed that Maruv refused to cancel her concerts in Russia which led to her refusal to sign the contract. Taran also alleged that Maruv and her lawyers did not believe she was responsible for representing the views of the Ukrainian government while at the Eurovision Song Contest.

National final runner-up Freedom Jazz announced on 26 February that they had rejected the broadcaster’s offer to represent Ukraine as well, with third place finisher Kazka confirming they had also rejected the offer the following day. On 27 February, UA:PBC confirmed that Ukraine would withdraw from the contest following the controversy. In their withdrawal statement, the broadcaster stated that the national selection “has drawn attention to a systemic problem with the music industry in Ukraine – the connection of artists with an aggressor state”.

2022 contest.

Ukrainian artist replacement. Following the controversy surrounding the Ukrainian national selection in 2019, a new rule was introduced starting from 2020 which bars artists who have performed in Russia since 2014 or have entered Crimea “in violation of the legislation of Ukraine” from entering the competition. The Ukrainian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was won by Alina Pash. On 14 February 2022, two days after the selection, activist and video blogger Serhii Sternenko alleged that Pash had entered Crimea from Russian territory in 2015, and counterfeited her travel documentation with her team in order to take part in the selection. The Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC subsequently stated that they would request the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service to verify if the documentation is forged, and that Pash would not officially be the Ukrainian representative at the contest “until the verification and clarification of the facts is completed”. Andrii Demchenko, speaking on behalf of the Guard Service, maintained that the certificate Pash had handed in to the broadcaster had not been issued by them, but that a request to cross the border had been made by the artist, and that the broadcaster would be provided with the results of the investigation by 16 February. Pash’s management later stated that she had entered Crimea from the Ukrainian border, and that the certificate had been requested by a “team member” rather than Pash herself. On 16 February, Pash claimed on an Instagram post that the Guard Service had not been able to provide her with a new certificate as proof of her entrance to Crimea, since related records are only kept for five years. Shortly after, Pash announced on her social media pages that she would withdraw her candidacy as the Ukrainian representative at the contest. Runner-up of the selection, Kalush Orchestra, were offered to represent Ukraine in Pash’s place on 17 February, and a final decision was expected to be made during an extraordinary meeting on 18 February. On 22 February, UA:PBC confirmed that Kalush Orchestra had accepted the offer.

Exclusion of Russia: In the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February, UA:PBC appealed to suspend Russian EBU member broadcasters VGTRK and Channel One from the union, and to exclude Russia from competing in the contest. The appeal alleged that since the beginning of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine in 2014, VGTRK and Channel One have been a mouthpiece for the Russian government and a key tool of political propaganda financed from the Russian state budget. The EBU initially stated that Russia as well as Ukraine would still be allowed to participate in the contest, citing the non-political nature of the event. The next day, the EBU announced that Russia was excluded from participating in the contest, stating that “in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year’s Contest would bring the competition into disrepute.”

Before Russia was cut from participating, many participating broadcasters called on the EBU to take action. According to Gustav Lützhøft, editor-in-chief of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, “we find it incompatible with Eurovision’s values that Russia is participating.” Sweden’s SVT, Iceland’s RÚV, Lithuania’s LRT and Norway’s NRK also called on the EBU to exclude Russia from the contest, while the Netherlands’ AVROTROS, Poland’s TVP and Ukraine’s UA:PBC additionally called on the EBU to suspend Russia’s membership of the union. Estonia’s ERR and Finland’s Yle stated that they would not participate if Russia is invited.

Latvian representatives at the 2022 contest, Citi Zēni, called on the EBU in an email to reconsider Russian participation. They stated: “We love all artists. We love all people. We are united. Eurovision should take action. We urge other delegations & artists to do the same.”

Russia had not publicly announced an artist or song before being excluded.

Voting history. The two nations have exchanged points with each other despite their unstable relations. The tables below show the points awarded between Russia and Ukraine since the latter debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003.

Russia →  Ukraine (SF: – Semi-final, F: – Final, T: – Televote, J: – Jury vote) / (Points – Total – Years):

• 12 points: 2 (2004(F), 2021(TSF))
• 10 points: 5 (2006(SF), 2006(F), 2011(F), 2016(TF), 2018(TSF)) 
• 08 points: 5 (2003(F), 2007(F), 2008(F), 2012(F), 2018(TF))
• 07 points: 6 (2009(SF), 2010(F), 2013(SF), 2014(SF), 2014(F), 2021(TF)) 
• 06 points: 1 (2018(JSF))
• 05 points: 1 (2021(JSF))
• 04 points: 0 
• 03 points: 0 
• 02 points: 2 (2005(F), 2009(F)) 
• 01 points: 1 (2013(F)) 
• 00 points:  3 (2016(JF), 2018(JF), 2021(JF))
• Total: 172 points

Ukraine →  Russia (SF: – Semi-final, F: – Final, T: – Televote, J: – Jury vote):

• 12 points: 5 (2003(F), 2006(SF), 2006(F), 2008(F), 2016(TF))
• 10 points: 4 (2004(F), 2007(F), 2010(F), 2012(F))
• 08 points: 2 ( 2009(F), 2011(F))
• 07 points: 1 (2013(SF)) 
• 06 points: 2 (2014(SF), 2021(TSF)) 
• 05 points: 0
• 04 points: 4 (2005(F), 2013(F), 2014(F), 2021(TF))
• 03 points: 1 (2018(TSF))
• 02 points: 0
• 01 points: 0 
• 00 points: 3 (2016(JF), 2018(JSF), 2021(JSF), 2021(JF))
• Total: 154 points

7.1.1.Ukrainian artist replacement. Following the controversy surrounding the Ukrainian national selection in 2019, which led to the country withdrawing from the contest that year, a new rule was introduced starting from 2020 which bars artists who have performed in Russia since 2014 or have entered Crimea “in violation of the legislation of Ukraine” from entering the selection. The 2022 Ukrainian national selection was won by Alina Pash with the song “Tini zabutykh predkiv“. On 14 February 2022, two days after the selection, activist and video blogger Serhii Sternenko alleged that Pash had entered Crimea from Russian territory in 2015, and counterfeited her travel documentation with her team in order to take part in the selection. The Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC subsequently stated that they would request the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service to verify if the documentation is forged, and that Pash would not officially be the Ukrainian representative at the contest “until the verification and clarification of the facts is completed”. After it was discovered that a representative of Pash’s team had handed in falsified documentation to UA:PBC, on 16 February, Pash announced on her social media pages that she would withdraw her candidacy as the Ukrainian representative at the contest. UA:PBC later stated that according to the rules of the selection, they will select another representative among other competing artists in the selection. Runner-up of the selection, Kalush Orchestra with the song “Stefania”, were offered to represent Ukraine on 17 February, and a final decision was expected to be made during an extraordinary meeting on 18 February. On 22 February, UA:PBC confirmed that Kalush Orchestra had agreed to represent Ukraine at the contest.

7.1.2.Russian exclusion. In the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February, UA:PBC appealed to suspend Russian EBU member broadcasters VGTRK and Channel One from the union. The appeal alleged that since the beginning of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine in 2014, VGTRK and Channel One have been a mouthpiece for the Russian government and a key tool of political propaganda financed from the Russian state budget. The EBU initially stated that Russia as well as Ukraine would still be allowed to participate in the contest, citing the non-political nature of the event.

Several broadcasters expressed their concern at the decision and issued statements calling for the removal of Russia from the contest. In addition to Ukraine’s UA:PBC, nine other countries’ broadcasters requested the EBU to change the decision: Denmark’s DR, Estonia’s ERR, Finland’s Yle, Iceland’s RÚV, Lithuania’s LRT, the Netherlands’ AVROTROS, Norway’s NRK, Poland’s TVP and Sweden’s SVT. Yle also stated that they would withdraw their participation if Russia was not excluded from the contest. This was followed by a similar announcement from ERR. Latvian representatives Citi Zēni also urged the EBU to reconsider Russian participation. On 25 February 2022, the EBU announced that Russia would not compete at the contest, stating that “in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year’s Contest would bring the competition into disrepute.” The next day, all EBU members from Russia, including VGTRK and Channel One, announced their withdrawal from the union, according to a statement released by Russian state media. Russia had not publicly announced an artist or song before being excluded.

Other awards. In addition to the main winner’s trophy, the Marcel Bezençon Awards were contested during the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. The OGAE, “General Organisation of Eurovision Fans” voting poll also took place before the contest.

Marcel Bezençon Awards. The Marcel Bezençon Awards, organised since 2002 by Sweden’s then-Head of Delegation and 1992 representative Christer Björkman, and winner of the 1984 contest Richard Herrey, honours songs in the contest’s final. The awards are divided into three categories: the Artistic Award, the Composers Award, and the Press Award. The winners were revealed shortly before the Eurovision final on 14 May.

Category	Country	Song	Performer(s)	Songwriter(s)
Artistic Award	Serbia	“In corpore sano“	Konstrakta	Ana Đurić, Milovan Bošković
Press Award	United Kingdom	“Space Man”	Sam Ryder	Sam Ryder, Amy Wadge, Max Wolfgang
Composers Award	Sweden	“Hold Me Closer”	Cornelia Jakobs	Cornelia Jakobsdotter, Isa Molin, David Zandén

OGAE. OGAE, an organisation of over forty Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs across Europe and beyond, conducts an annual voting poll first held in 2002 as the Marcel Bezençon Fan Award. After all votes were cast, the top-ranked entry in the 2022 poll was Sweden’s “Hold Me Closer” performed by Cornelia Jakobs; the top five results are shown below.

Country	Performer(s)	Song	OGAE result
Sweden	Cornelia Jakobs	“Hold Me Closer”	393
Italy	Mahmood and Blanco	“Brividi“	387
Spain	Chanel	“SloMo”	294
Netherlands	S10	“De diepte“	218
United Kingdom	Sam Ryder	“Space Man”	204

You’re A Vision Award: 2022 saw the first edition of the You’re A Vision Award (a word play of “Eurovision”), ran by the fansite Songfestival.be. Following the cancellation of the Barbara Dex Award due to its associated negative connotations, the You’re A Vision Award was established with the aim to “celebrate the creativity and diversity that embody the Eurovision spirit”, with the winner being the one with the most notable outfit. Australia’s Sheldon Riley won the award, with Spain’s Chanel coming second and Norway’s Subwoolfer coming third.

Place	Country	Performer(s)
1	Australia	Sheldon Riley
2	Spain	Chanel
3	Norway	Subwoolfer
4	San Marino	Achille Lauro

8.Official album. Eurovision Song Contest: Turin 2022 is the official compilation album of the contest, put together by the European Broadcasting Union and was released by Universal Music Group digitally on 8 Apr