Eurovision 2024: What We Know So Far (as of February)

This month, we're really getting into the heat of things with national finals and such. Let's see how they pan out.

Eurovision 2024

Host Country: Sweden

Host City: Malmö (Malmö Arena)

You can read more about the host city "race" as well as SVT's host city demands in WWKSF blog posts of previous months.

Hosts: Petra Mede, Malin Åkerman

Announced on 5/2. Despite earlier rumours of Gina Dirawi having been in the running, she appears to have not been selected in the end. This makes Petra Mede the first person to have hosted or co-hosted three editions of Eurovision.

Show Dates: 7th May, 9th May, 11th May

This was announced alongside the host city.

Rule Changes: jury reform?, show shortened by an hour?, AI ban

On 14/6, TV2 in Norway reported that the EBU are discussing the jury system, and that in fact NRK has been communicating with them regarding the system. The NRK official added that the assessment by the Eurovision Reference Group will be completed and decided upon in January. Specifically, according to Norwegian head of delegation Stig Karlsen during a guest appearance on a podcast, NRK were planning to propose a 70/30 televote/jury split to the EBU during a meeting in September. On 12/9, a workshop of delegations took place in Berlin, during which Karlsen posted a photo on social media saying "mission complete". Karlsen later clarified on a podcast that no agreement had been made over reducing the power of the jury, and that he has "full confidence" in the EBU whatever they may do with the jury going forward.

On 16/6, Aftonbladet reported that SVT are planning to shorten Eurovision airtime by a full hour. It was revealed that SVT have plans to broadcast semi-finals between 21:00 and 23:00, and the final between 21:00 and 0:15. After being announced as TV Producer, Per Blankens said to Aftonbladet that it is "high on the agenda" to shorten the show by up to an hour.

On 24/8, Bloomberg reported that the EBU was contemplating banning artificial intelligence from the Eurovision Song Contest. Speculation became rife when SMRTV, the broadcaster for San Marino, announced on 29/11 a collaboration with an AI startup to write songs for their national final. However, it looks like this was scrapped several days later, as the submission portal had been closed, and only 11 submissions were received there, several of which being troll entries. It was however brought up again later, as SMRTV announced intentions to hold a songwriting camp to improve on 10 AI-generated tracks. See San Marino section for more.

On 2/11, the rules for Eurovision 2024 were released. Notably, it mentions that "the points of the National Audiences and of the National Juries shall be combined according to a ratio which is determined by the EBU, subject to the Reference Group approval". However, fans quickly pointed out that this line was also present in previous rulebooks. Otherwise, rules largely remain the same as 2023, with televote-only semi-finals, and the inclusion of a Rest Of The World vote.

Personnel: Ebba Adielsson (Executive Producer), Christel Thoise Willers (Executive Producer for communication, press, brand and event), Tobias Åberg (Executive in Charge of Production), Johan Bernhagen (Executive Line Producer), Christer Björkman (Contest Producer), Per Blankens (TV Producer), Edward Af Sillen (script writer), Daniel Réhn (script writer)

With the exception of Adielsson who had previously been the head of SVT Entertainment, all of the above names have already had previous hosting involvement in ESC2013, while Åberg and Bernhagen were also involved in hosting ESC2016. Åberg also worked with the BBC in Liverpool as a technical expert. On 11/9, it was revealed that Christer Björkman, who was responsible for Melodifestivalen between 2002 and 2021, as well as Eurovision 2013, will return to be the Contest Producer, while Per Blankens (who had previously worked on Melodifestivalen as well) will be the TV Producer.

On 7/12, Aftonbladet reported that Edward Af Sillén, along with Daniel Réhn, will return to write scripts for the hosts, as well as the interval acts. Af Sillén, also a longtime Eurovision commentator for SVT, had previously already written the scripts for 2010, 2013, and 2016, including the iconic "Love Love Peace Peace" interval act.

Stage: cross-shaped, movable LED cubes

This was revealed on 19/12. Stage designed by Florian Wieder and Fredrik Stormby, the former of which had also worked on several Eurovision stages in the 2010s as well as 2021. As one may note from the above photo, the LED cubes above the stage somewhat resemble the suspended box used by Loreen in her Tattoo performance. The standing crowd will be surrounding the cross-shaped stage. Artists come out from the back, near the "United By Music" LED screen - the stage is not solitary - and walk across a bridge to get to the middle. In other renders, one can see that the bridge and the middle part of the cross may also be used to construct a corridor of lights. At this point in time, it is not certain where the green room will be situated.

Budget: unknown

On 18/9, it was reported by Sveriges Radio that the City of Malmö will spend 30 million Swedish krones, or about 2.5-2.6 million euros, on Eurovision. In comparison, the City of Liverpool spent about 2.3 million euros. It is however also likely for SVT to not spend as much as the BBC and British government did on Eurovision.

On 4/10, it was further reported that SVT will cut a further 200 million krona, or 17 million euros, and that between 70 and 80 positions will disappear. This is likely to cause further setbacks to the Eurovision hosting.

During an interview with the Eirevision podcast, Irish head of delegation Michael Kealy revealed that the EBU will once again increase the participation fee for broadcasters in 2024, although the exact numerical amount was not disclosed. This was revealed to the heads of delegation at the Berlin meeting in September. Kealy added that the reasoning for this was that the EBU deemed the contest "not financially sustainable" currently. In January, Romanian media reported that the participation fee for Romania this year would be 180 thousand euros.

On 14/1, the Malmö Municipal Board revealed their budget allocation for Eurovision 2024, with the largest sum of money going towards the Eurovillage. Karin Karlsson, who is heading the preparations, noted that the situation was more expensive than it had been 10 years ago, with more people and businesses collaborating with the preparations.

Interval Acts: ABBA songbook?, Zara Larsson?

Despite confirming that they will not perform on the Eurovision 2024 stage ("you don't have to be there to celebrate ABBA"), Bjorn and Benny have said that they may consider appearing at the show in person for the 50th anniversary of ABBA winning Eurovision.

World-famous pop star Zara Larsson has said in an interview that she would "love to be part of the interval act next year". On 1/7, Larsson confirmed during Nyhetsmorgon that she is currently in talks to perform at Eurovision 2024. On 20/1, she reiterated in an interview with Sveriges Radio that performing at Eurovision (as an interval act) would be "the ultimate privilege", and that she is "all set" for Eurovision. She also says in that interview however that she has not received an offer from SVT to perform at Eurovision.

Tickets: first went on sale on 28/11

The first set of tickets went on sale on 28/11, where many users reported being put in an unusually long queue in the hundreds of thousands. Further sales and re-sales will take place in December and beyond, the first of which took place on 15/12. Some re-sale tickets went for as much as 5000 Swedish krona.

Allocation Draw: 30/1/2024, 19:00 CET

Now officially referred as "The Draw". Hosted by Pernilla Månsson Colt, who also hosted the draw in 2013, as well as Farah Abadi, 2023 Swedish jury spokesperson and host of Melodifestivalen 2022-2023. Among other results, Luxembourg was drawn into a semi-final without France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, or Belgium; Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia were drawn into the same semi-final; Armenia and Azerbaijan are in different semi-finals; Cyprus and Greece are also in different semi-finals; and Iceland, Finland and Sweden (voting) were drawn into the same semi-final.

Pre-parties:

• Melfest WKND (22:00, 8th March, Nalen, Stockholm, Sweden)

To feature Filip Baloš, Glen Vella, Herreys, Jorge Gonzalez, KEiiNO, Saba, Sanna Nielsen, and Silvester Belt. To be hosted by Volodymyr Biriukov, a member of the Ukrainian delegation.

• PrePartyES (28th - 30th March, Sala La Riviera, Madrid, Spain)

28/3 will feature a "dress party", 29/3 will feature a dozen Eurovision stars as well as a ESC2024 flag parade and 30/3 will feature the Eurovision 2024 artists singing. Tickets started going on sale on 22/11. Confirmed 2024 artists include Besa, Luna, Natalia Barbu, Nebulossa, Saba, and Silvester Belt. Other confirmed names include Anna Bergendahl, Angy Fernandez, Kati Wolf, Miss Caffeina, and Quique Niza, most of which will only perform on the 29th.

• Greek pre-party (late March, TBA, Athens, Greece)

As reported by Greek Eurovision site Eurovisionfun. To include both Eurovision 2024 artists as well as popular former Eurovision artists.

• Barcelona Eurovision Party (4th - 6th April 2024, Sant Jordi Club, Barcelona, Spain)

Tickets are already on sale at the official website bcneurovision.com, and go for 48 euros and up. The actual party takes place on the 6th, while the 4th and 5th will see the EUROfansCLUB take place in the Sala Safari and ESC YOUNG and EURO JUSTICE take place at La Terrazza respectively. ESC YOUNG will feature Domènec. EURO JUSTICE will feature names such as Dellacruz, Mantra, and Roger Padros. The final night will feature Albina (Croatia 2021), Cornelia Jakobs, Herreys, Las Ketchup, among others. To be hosted by Alex Marteen. Confirmed 2024 artists include Besa, Gåte, Nebulossa, Raiven, Saba, and Slimane.

• London Eurovision Party (7th April 2024, HERE at Outernet, London, United Kingdom)

Tickets to go on sale starting 20/1. Confirmed 2024 artists include Besa, Gåte, Natalia Barbu, Nutsa Buzaladze, Raiven, Saba, and Slimane. Other featured names include Gustaph (Belgium 2023) and STAND UNIQU3 (UK JESC2023).

• Israel Calling (11th April 2024, TBA, Tel Aviv, Israel)

• Eurovision in Concert (13th April 2024, AFAS Live, Amsterdam, the Netherlands)

To be hosted by Cornald Maas and Charlotte Perelli, the latter of which will also perform her Eurovision entries during the pre-party. Confirmed 2024 artists include Aiko, Besa, Joost Klein, Natalia Barbu, Nebulossa, Raiven, Saba, Slimane, and Tali.

• Nordic Eurovision Party (20:00, 14th April 2024, BERNS Hotel, Stockholm, Sweden)

To have a rotating host city every year among the Nordic countries (which apparently include the Faroe Islands and Greenland according to the logo design). Doors open at 19:00. An after-party will take place as well for press, fans, and artists. Ticket levels include Eurofan Tickets for 800 SEK and General Standing Tickets at 600 SEK. Tickets started going on sale from 21/10. Confirmed names include Aiko, Besa, Raiven, Rosa Lopez, Selma (Iceland 1999. 2005), and Senhit.

• MalmöHagen/Copenhagen Eurovision Party (4th May 2024, Volume by DISIE, Copenhagen, Denmark)

To be hosted by British TV and radio host James Barr and drag queen Annie Rection. Confirmed names include Besa, Emmelie De Forrest, Hera Björk, Jorge Gonzalez, Paul Rey, Sander Sanchez, Suzy Guerra, and Tim Schou. Will also feature a Vote Show for Eurovision 2024, "Drag-A-Vision", and afterwards Euroclub will last until 5:00. According to the Instagram page, ahead of the event, fans will be able to vote for which 20 acts appear live or virtually.

Eurovillage, Euroclub: Folkets Park, 26/4 - 12/5; Malmö Live

As announced by Malmö City Council on their website when looking for volunteers. In addition, a "Eurovision Street" will be implemented between Folkets Park and Triangeln, although details are still not yet clear there. Folkets Park is rather far from Malmö Arena, however it is close to the Malmö train station where many visitors may arrive, presumably from Copenhagen.

On 21/2, it was announced that there will also be a "Grand Final Party", also to be hosted at Malmö Live. Further details to be announced in late March.

Non-participating Countries: Andorra, Belarus, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Turkey

Read previous blog posts on news regarding most of the non-participating countries.

On 6/1, Montenegrin broadcaster RTCG revealed that they are exploring using a music festival in 2024 to serve as a national selection for ESC 2024, if their 2025 budget allows. We may thus see Montenegro return to the contest in 2025. Regardless, Montenegro will not take part in Eurovision 2024, although they did broadcast the Festival di Sanremo.

Regarding Romania, Ovi Jacobsen (2010, 2014) and Mihai Trăistariu (2006) have both announced on social media that they are writing entries to represent Romania in Eurovision 2024. After the participant list was revealed, it was reported on the Eurovision website that negotiations were still ongoing with the Romanian broadcaster. Fans from Romania also revealed that TVR had in fact gotten a deadline extension from the EBU, and this was needed due to the 2024 Romanian budget only to be ratified near Christmas. The aforementioned Mihai Trăistariu also posted on 8/12 that he has found "the right track" that he will submit to the Romanian broadcaster, or even other broadcasters if he "has no choice". In the end, the Board of Directors at TVR voted against Eurovision participation. Romania will therefore not take part in Eurovision 2024.

Participating Countries: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Iceland?, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom

The deadline for participation confirmation was 15/9, although countries were able to withdraw without any cost until 13/10. As mentioned earlier, TVR had gotten an extension on the deadline, but ultimately voted against participation.

On 17/10, RTSH posted the official participant list of FIK 62, along with their respective song titles. On 30/11, it was announced that Kledi Kadiu, Xhuliano Dule and Krisa Çaushi would be the hosts of the festival. On 1/12, it was revealed that Sardi Strugaj would also withdraw from the festival. Six different prizes were awarded during the show. The final of FIK 62 took place on 22/12. In the end, Besa Kokëdhima won the televote with the song "Zemrën N'dorë". Besa will now represent Albania at Eurovision 2024. The revamp of the Albanian entry will be released on 11/3, as revealed by Besa on her Instagram. She later also posted that the song will now be mainly or completely in English.

Recently, it has been speculated that long-time fan favourite Ladaniva will be representing Armenia at Eurovision, as the lead singer of Ladaniva recently started following the Armenian head of delegation on Instagram. Around 22/2, rumours spread that Anahit Hakobyan will represent Armenia, as she was seen filming a music video in the "warehouse" where many Armenian (Junior and adult) Eurovision entries are filmed. Furthermore, three members of the Armenian delegation, including the head of delegation, recently started following Anahit.

After months of discussion and speculation, it was finally announced by the EBU that Australia will indeed take part in Eurovision 2024. According to some rumours, the 2024 entry will be partially funded by the Victorian government. Speculation was rife when after the stage design was revealed, Dannii Minogue quoted the post on Twitter, writing "The stage is set…and the countdown has begun!". Notably, Dannii comes from Melbourne, which is in the state of Victoria. On 18/1, it was found that Dannii would be releasing a new single named "Thinking 'Bout Us" on 9/2, thus leading to speculation that this may be her Eurovision entry. However, Dannii said in a radio interview that "I don’t know that I would have the strength to get through it". Later SBS announced that the representative of Australia will be announced on 6/3. Several rumours have since surfaced; in early February, it was discussed that Delta Goodrem may represent Australia, with a new single named "Hearts On The Run". A radio show also claimed that Dami Im would return to represent Australia a second time, but this was denied by Dami's management.

Austria returned to an internal selection. On 16/1, it was announced that Kaleen, real name Marie-Sophie Kreissl, will represent Austria at Eurovision 2024 with the song "We Will Rave", described as a "techno-inspired pop track". The song was written by Jimmy Joker Thörnfeldt, among others. She has previously worked as a choreographer and stage director, notably being the stand-in rehearsal for Fuego in Eurovision 2018, as well as being the choreographer for Who The Hell Is Edgar. She is reportedly also married to the resident Austrian stage director Marvin Dietmann, leading to accusations of nepotism within the selection process. Tentatively, the song is set to be released in early March, however both the song and even a choreographed performance were leaked almost immediately on Twitter shortly after the artist announcement. It was reported in late January that the music video for We Will Rave will be filmed in Los Angeles. The song (which has been confirmed to have had a revamp) will be revealed on 1/3. The performance will be staged by Dan Shipton.

On 14/7, Ictimai TV, the Azerbaijani broadcaster, opened song submissions for Eurovision 2024. The submissions closed on 30/9. On 3/10, ITV revealed that 214 submissions had been received, 88 of which had been written by Azerbaijanis. On 20/10, ITV announced that they had begun the live auditioning process with 16 candidates. On 29/10, ITV posted their shortlist of 15 candidates, among which was Aisel who had already represented Azerbaijan in 2018. On 15/11, the shortlist was further shortened to 6, which still contained Aisel, among others. These six acts will now be reviewed by a set of focus groups. In addition, the contestants were asked about details of their song. Among the questions, it appears that Aisel's song will be in the Azerbaijani language, which is also the case with her non-Eurovision music. On 14/2, it was revealed by Eldar Gasimov on a TV programme that the representative was still not yet selected, although the team had now invited professionals from other countries to assist with the process, which is about to be completed. On 22/2, it was reported that the selection had been narrowed down to Aisel and a trio named Ilkin, Etibar, and Mila, both of which have songs at least partially in the Azerbaijani language.

RTBF announced on 30/8 that dark pop artist Mustii will represent Belgium in Malmo. According to an interview from VRT, Mustii says that he "wants to go to Eurovision with my own DNA" and be "sincere and authentic". After months of silence, Mustii announced on 11/1 that he has opened submissions for the general public to submit audio clips of them singing a certain snippet of the song, which would then be combined to form a "choir" in the track, akin to Iceland 2021. Submissions closed on 18/1, after which it was reported that over a thousand submissions had been received. In an interview on 22/1, Mustii revealed that his song is very personal, and has potential to be developed on a big stage like Eurovision. The song, named "Before The Party's Over", was released on 20/2. The song was premiered on "Le 8/9", an RTBF morning talk show, at around 8:20am. Following the reveal (and earlier leak), Belgium rose more than 10 places to now 4th in the Eurovision winning odds, with many Eurofans impressed by the track.

The names for the Croatian national final Dora were announced on 15/12, including Vatra, Let 3, Lana Mandarić, Zsa Zsa, Damir Kedžo (Croatia 2020) and Boris Štok, although Zsa Zsa soon withdrew from the lineup, and was replaced with Baby Lasagna. In addition, the head of delegation confirmed that there will indeed be a semi final in the national final. The last time Dora had a semi final was 2010, and the last time there were two semi-finals was 2007. The songs were revealed on 4/1 on "Svijet Diskografije" on HRT Radio 2, and later uploaded to the HRT Youtube channel. On 8/1, HRT announced that the national final will take place on 22, 23, and 25/2 in the Zagreb studios of HRT, meaning that for the first time since 2018, Dora will not take place in the city of Opatija. The overwhelming favourite among Croatians seemed to be Baby Lasagna, with the song "Rim Tim Tagi Dim". On 26/1, the semi-final distributions were revealed, where 8/12 artists of each semi-final will qualify for the final. The semi-finals were composed of 100% televoting, while the final of Dora consisted of 50% televoting and 50% jury, where half of that jury was an international jury. During the semi-finals, Slimane (France 2024) and Raiven (Slovenia 2024) performed as interval acts. The final of Dora took place on 25/2, and as expected, Baby Lasagna won the selection, winning both the jury and the televote. However, it was revealed that he had gotten almost 10 TIMES the votes received by the runner-up, receiving 247 points compared to 27 for the runner-up. Baby Lasagna, previously only a backup name in the selection, has now won the selection resoundingly and will represent Croatia in Eurovision 2024. Following the selection, Croatia rose to number 2 in the Eurovision winning odds.

On 25/9, it was announced that 16-year-old Cypriot-Australian Silia Kapsis will represent Cyprus in Eurovision 2024. Kapsis will sing a song written by Dimitris Kontopoulos. On 23/11, it was revealed that Kelly Sweeney and Guy Groove, two Los Angeles-based choreographers, will be choreographing Kapsis' performance for Eurovision 2024. On 8/1, it was officially announced that Kapsis' song is named "Liar". Even before this announcement, it had been speculated that Melissa Mantzoukis' song, which had been submitted to the Greek broadcaster in 2023, would be recycled and given to Kapsis. Mantzoukis' song was also named "Liar", and was never publicly released. Kapsis' music video was filmed in late January. The song and music video will be released on 29/2. The performance will be staged by Dan Shipton.

Czechia returned to the national final ESCZ. On 14/11, it was revealed that the national final would take place on 4/12 at the Roxy Club in Prague, and it was presented once again by Adam Misik. After the show, voting was opened for a week, with both Czech (30%) and international (70%) viewers being able to vote via either the Eurovision app or on the Choicely website. On 13/12, it was announced that Aiko had won the national final with the song "Pedestal", winning the international vote by a large margin (albeit slightly miscalculated by the Czech delegation), and coming 5th in the Czech vote where Elly had a landslide victory instead. Aiko will now represent the Czech Republic in Eurovision 2024. It was later revealed that Aiko will be working with her producer to lengthen the song (which currently stands just over 2:30) as well as to make a revamp.

Denmark returned to their national final DMGP, which took place at the Koncertsalen in Copenhagen on 17/2. There were 8 entries in the national final, same as previous years. On 27/11, it was announced that Stéphanie Surrugue and Sara Bro would host DMGP 2024. On 25/1, DR announced that Aura Dione, Basim (Denmark 2014, "Cliche Love Song"), Chu Chu, Janus Wiberg, RoseeLu, Saba, Stella, and Ublu would be competing in the national final. it was also revealed that Ole Tøpholm (commentator 2011-2019) will return to commentating on Eurovision for DR. On 10/2, a special show where all contestants sang their song acapella took place. The national final took place on 17/2. Basim, Janus Wiberg, and Saba entered the superfinal, and Saba, the fan favourite, ultimately won the national final, winning the jury and coming second in the televote. Saba will now represent Denmark with the song "Sand". This marks the first time in Denmark's history that they will be represented in Eurovision by a person of colour.

The artists for Eesti Laul, Estonia's national selection, were announced on 6/11 and 7/11, which consisted of Ollie (EL2023 "Venom"), Carlos Ukareda (EL2023 "Whiskey Don't Forget"), Laura Põldvere (Estonia 2005, UMK 2021), among others. The songs were released on 8/12. The semi-final took place on 20/1, where 5Miinusti & Puuluup, Ollie, Ewert & The Two Dragons, Peter Põder, and Anet Vaikmaa qualified for the final. The final of Eesti Laul took place on 17/2. 5Miinust x Puuluup remained the big favourite throughout the entire season, and sure enough, the group won the national final, after having shared a superfinal with Ollie and Nele-Liis Vaiksoo. Ollie has now come second in two consecutive editions of Eesti Laul. Regardless, 5Miinust x Puuluup will now represent Estonia in Eurovision 2024, with the song named "(Nendest) Narkootikumidest Ei Tea Me (Küll) Midagi", now the Eurovision song with the longest name ever.

Finland returned to their national final named UMK. On 3/10, Yle announced that UMK24 would take place in the Nokia Arena in Tampere, which can hold up to 15000 people. Tickets went on sale on 5/10. 419 entries were submitted (up from 363 last year), and the finalists will be announced on 10/1. The first music video was filmed on 7/11. On 11/12, Yle announced that the national final would be hosted by comedian Pilvi Hämäläinen, Benjamin (UMK 2023 "Hoida Mut"), and former Miss Finland Viivi Pumpanen. The 7 artists were revealed on 10/1. They included Cyan Kicks (UMK 2022), Sexmane (brother of Isaac Sene (UMK 2022)), Sara Siipola, Jesse Markin, Windows95Man, Sini Sabotage, and Mikael Gabriel x Nublu. After the announcement, Jesse Markin said that he would not do Eurovision if he won UMK and Israel was still participating, after which Yle responded that they have set up a mechanism to deal with this kind of scenario. This comes after the UMK team posted a statement earlier on in December saying that UMK will take place regardless of whether Finland takes part in Eurovision. There was also controversy surrounding Mikael Gabriel, who had recently expressed antivax opinions on social media, and a few years ago had gotten a tattoo of Vladimir Putin. The songs were then released one by one starting 10/1. The current big favourite, both among international fans and Finns alike, seems to be Sara Siipola with "Paskana". The show took place on 11/2 in Tampere, at the Nokia Arena with 15000 capacity. Käärijä and Erika Vikman performed a new single, "Ruoska", together as part of an interval act, while KUUMAA and host Benjamin also performed as an interval act, performing "Ylivoimainen" together, and Benjamin also performed "Hoida Mut". In the end, despite coming last in the jury vote, Windows95man won the televote with his song "No Rules", thus winning the national final overall due to the voting system being 75% televote and 25% international jury. The jury was won by Sara Siipola, who also came second in the televote. The combined points were however not enough to overtake Windows95man, therefore Windows95man (and vocalist Henri) will now represent Finland in Eurovision 2024. After the show concluded, the duo said in an interview that they hope that Israel will not participate in the contest, and urged the EBU to do the right thing. There are also discussions over whether Windows95man will have to change his artist name for Eurovision due to potential copyright issues with Microsoft. In the days following his victory, Windows95man revealed that he is still not sure whether he wants to go to Eurovision, partially due to the continued participation of Israel, but partially also because the victory was unexpected to him, and he has had to go to therapy to deal with the victory. In addition, vocalist and co-songwriter Henri was also not credited as the artist, even though both names are prominently featured in the music video and live performance. Yle has already responded that should Windows95man refuse to go to Eurovision, they will start negotiations with Sara Siipola to represent Finland in Eurovision 2024. Although earlier, Sara Siipola along with Jesse Markin stated that they are unsure of whether they would go to Eurovision if Israel remained in the contest. Finally, on 20/2, Windows95man confirmed that he will indeed go to Eurovision for Finland, and stressed that withdrawal in protest of Israel would have no effect. Instead, he (and Henri) will now look to internally pressure the EBU into kicking out Israel, alongside other pro-Palestinian contestants of this year.

On 8/11, after months of silence, France Televisions suddenly announced that Slimane will be representing France with the song "Mon Amour". The song was released later that same day, and is an emotional ballad typical of Slimane's style. Slimane is a very famous French artist, having had several number 1 hits in France. During the allocation draw, France was drawn into the second semi-final for voting.

On 7/9, German broadcaster NDR opened song submissions for the national final "Eurovision Song Contest, Das Deutsche Finale 2024", and the submissions closed on 15/10. It was also reported that NDR may hand Eurovision over to another regional broadcaster starting in 2025, although this is still under discussion. On 6/12, a new format named "Ich Will Zum ESC" ("I want to go to ESC") was announced, which would determine one extra finalist for the actual German national final. This format started on 25/1, involved 15 contestants, and was hosted by Conchita Wurst and Germany-based Irish musician Rea Garvey. It was noted by Eurofans that given the German tendency to vote for the "underdog", the winner of this format will most likely also win the national final. The finalists for Das Deutsche Finale 2024 were revealed on 19/1, along with their songs. These include Max Mutzke (Germany 2004), Ryk, Marie Reim, among others. According to German fans, the German public are most likely to vote for Max Mutzke, although a fan favourite is Ryk with "Oh Boy". On 2/2, NDR released the songs for the four finalists of Ich Will Zum ESC. The final for Ich Will Zum ESC took place live on 8/2, and Floryan joined the other finalists in the German national final. The national final took on 16/2 in Berlin, with Barbara Schoneberger once again returning to host the national final. In the end, despite Ryk and Max Mutzke being favourites, Isaak ultimately won the national final, winning both the international jury and the televote. Isaak will now represent Germany in Eurovision 2024 with the song "Always On The Run". The performance will be staged by Dan Shipton.

Despite fears of withdrawal due to a combination of poor results and a pro-Russian government, GPB confirmed Eurovision 2024 participation on 15/9. And despite earlier speculation that Bzikebi (Georgia JESC 2008) would represent Georgia, on 12/1, it was announced that Nutsa Buzaladze was internally selected to represent Georgia at Eurovision 2024. She had previously won New Wave 2014, which was hosted in Jūrmala, Latvia, at the age of 17. A year later, Buzaladze took part in The Voice Turkey with Hadise as her coach. Buzaladze had also gotten 2nd place in the Georgian national final in 2017 with the song "White Horses Run". More recently, in 2023 Buzaladze took part in American Idol, did a duet with Kylie Minogue, and ended up 12th place in the final while gaining international recognition. Shortly after the artist reveal, it was also announced that songwriters can send in potential Eurovision songs for Nutsa, and submissions closed on 30/1, after which it was revealed that around 300 songs were submitted. Nutsa later said in an interview that she is looking for a "dancey bop", and may include Georgian folk elements if it fits the song. On 11/2, it was found that Nutsa had travelled to North Macedonia to meet with prominent Balkan songwriter Marko Dimitrov, and it appears that her song for Eurovision will be co-written by him. Dimitrov has been responsible for several Macedonian entries at Eurovision, as well as some others from other Balkan countries. On 25/2, Nutsa posted that her dog will also feature in her Eurovision postcard. From the footage, it appears that the postcard was being filmed in Georgia, implying that postcards this year will be filmed in the artists' own countries. A day later, Nutsa posted on her Instagram story that she has finalized her Eurovision song.

On 24/10, ERT revealed that Marina Satti will represent Greece in Malmö. An already established artist in Greece, she focuses on pop music with strong Greek influences. It was also announced that song submissions were open until 1/12 for any prospective songwriters to send in a song for Marina Satti to sing at Eurovision 2024. Satti also said in an interview that she already has several songs ready, and has also approached other songwriters, both old and new collaborators. On 7/11, it was reported that Dora Chierakis and Sofia Dranidou will be returning as Head of Project and Head of Mission for ERT, with Dranidou also doubling as the head of delegation. On 10/12, it was reported on talk show "Geia Sou" that Marina Satti and her team have looked through most of the 150 songs that were received, and so far she has rejected all of them. As mentioned earlier, Satti already has her own songs that she could pick instead. The report was later refuted by Satti however, who said that she had not gone through most of the songs yet, including one which was written by a songwriter who co-wrote Tattoo and Euphoria. On 6/1, choreographer Metznoun Mecnun Giasar, better known as Majnoon, responded to a question on Instagram about going back to Greece with "for the culture" and tagged Marina Satti. Majnoon, among other things, has choreographed Rosalia's Motomami tour, and fans are now speculating that he may work with Satti for the Eurovision entry. On 28/1, it was reported that Satti will be working with rapper OGE on production of her Eurovision entry, who also co-wrote PONOS KRIFOS, another song from Satti. The music video was filmed on 13/2, and was directed by LA-based director Will Noyce. On 14/2, it was announced that Marina Satti's entry is named "Zari" (Greek for "dice"), and will be released on 7/3.

On 13/10, RUV announced that the first semi-final of Söngvakeppnin will take place on 17/2, the second semi-final on 24/2, and the final on 2/3. 10 songs will take part in the national final, and they were revealed during the show "Lögin í Söngvakeppninni" on 27/1. On 12/12, the Icelandic Society of Authors & Composers released a statement for RUV to not take part in Eurovision 2024 if Israel continues to take part. This was later echoed by OGAE Iceland, who voted on 24/12 by a 71% majority to also call on RUV to withdraw in case of continued Israeli participation. This mirrors Icelandic public opinion, with a public survey in the same week showing that of the over 1100 responses, 76% of respondents believed that Israel should not be allowed to take part in Eurovision 2024, and 64% believed that Iceland should withdraw if Israel still participates. On 23/1, RUV announced that Söngvakeppnin, at least for the time being, will be unlinked from Eurovision. The decision on whether to take part in Eurovision will be taken by RUV in conjunction with the winner of the national final. This thus leaves Iceland's Eurovision participation in an unknown state until after the conclusion of Söngvakeppnin. In addition, an RUV official also stated that they have relayed their concerns relating to Israel and Gaza to the EBU. On 27/1, the artists and songs for Söngvakeppnin were revealed. They include Palestinian artist Bashar Murad with a song named "Wild West / Vestrið Villt", Sigga Ózk, Hera Björk (Iceland 2010), among others. The first semi-final took place on 17/2, where VÆB and ANITA qualified for the final. The second semi-final took place on 24/2. Bashar Murad and Hera Björk qualified directly for the final, while Sigga Ózk was revealed as the wildcard soon after. It was later reported that an Israeli group has been actively campaigning against Bashar Murad possibly representing Iceland in Eurovision, and has been telling Icelanders to instead vote for Hera Björk.

Starting on 8/1, the Eurosong entries were revealed on the Ray D'Arcy Show. They included Erica Cody, as well as names like Ailsha with "Go Tobann" and Bambie Thug. The national final itself took place on the Late Late Show (as usual) on 26/1. The victor turned out to be Bambie Thug, who had won both the Irish jury vote and the televote. Bambie Thug will now represent Ireland in Eurovision 2024 with "Doomsday Blue". During the allocation draw, Ireland was drawn into the first half of semi-final 1.

On 15/5, it was reported that Eurovision will continue to be broadcast on Rai 1 in 2024. Sanremo took place between 6/2 and 10/2. The big artists were announced on 3/12. Among others, they include Emma, Diodato, Sangiovanni, Il Volo, Geolier, Alessandra Amoroso, Negramaro, Mahmood, Loredana Berte, Annalisa, Mr. Rain, and Ricchi e Poveri. Italian press also reports that such names as Ermal Meta had been rejected. The final of Sanremo Giovani took place on 19/12, after which it was revealed that Clara, Santi Francesi and bnkr44 will take part in Sanremo proper in February, making a total of 30 participants. On 11/1, it was announced that Lazza, Rosa Chemical, Arisa, and Tananai will be performing on the Piazza Colombo during each evening respectively. The press had their first listen of the competing songs on 15/1, after which several reviews on their thoughts on the entries were released. Favourites among the press included Loredana Berte, Annalisa, Angelina Mango, Diodato, Mahmood, Dargen D'Amico, Negramaro, and Gazzelle. Closer to the festival, it was revealed that Rai Play will no longer be geoblocked, and that Sanremo will be broadcast in Spain, Romania, Moldova and Montenegro, among others. The first night took place on 6/2, and Mahmood, Diodato, Annalisa, Angelina Mango, and Loredana Berte were rated as the 5 favourites of the press jury. The final took place on 10/2 (and the morning of 11/2), and in the end Angelina Mango won the festival despite an overwhelming televote (mostly coming from Naples) for Geolier, who sang in the Neapolitan language. Regardless, due to the radio and press juries, Angelina Mango with her song "La Noia" has won the festival, and the day after confirmed that she will indeed go to Eurovision. This marks 8 years since the last solo female act represented Italy at Eurovision, and 10 years since the last solo female winner of Sanremo. Annalisa came third overall, while Mahmood barely missed out on the top 5.

On 9/1, the entries in Supernova, the Latvian national final, were revealed. Some names include Agnese Rakovska (former lead singer of Triana Park), AVEI, Ukrainian-language group Funkinbiz with the song "Na Chystu Vodu", and Dons with "Hollow", the latter of which appears to be the clear favourite among Latvians. Unusually, Markus Riva, a regular to the national final and who had been working on a duet with Polish singer Leon Myszkowski for Supernova, was not included in the lineup. The national final will be hosted by Lauris Reiniks and Ketija Šēnberga. On 30/1, the running order for the semi-final of Supernova was revealed. The semi-final took place on 3/2, while the final will take place a week later on 10/2. Qualifiers included Edvards Strazdiņš, Dons, Vēstulēs, Ecto, Funkinbiz, among others. Notably, Vēstulēs got a very large televote, and began to be speculated to be a possible challenger to Dons' victory. This did not happen however; Dons ultimately won the national selection on 10/2, although in the winner's performance, he sang the last chorus of his song in the Latvian language. It is not yet known whether he will also do this for Eurovision. Nonetheless, fans are now speculating that this is Latvia's best chance to qualify for the grand final in a long time.

On 18/10, LRT announced that the national final has been renamed to "Eurovizija.LT", and submissions were opened. In the final, there would now be a superfinal like in Estonia, where the top 3 of the combined results will enter a televote-only superfinal, and the top 3 would perform a second time (unlike in Estonia). The first semi-final was broadcast on 13/1, although it was be pre-recorded earlier in the week as previous. On 14/11, The Roop announced that they have once again submitted a song to the national final, causing Lithuania to quickly short in Eurovision winning odds. And sure enough, when the names were announced on 19/12, The Roop was among the 40 names, as well as Monika Marija, Andrius Pojavis (Lithuania 2013), Il Senso, Lina Štalytė, MeidĖ, Queens Of Roses, Vilija (Lithuania 2014), among others. There were 5 heats, with only 2 out of 8 artists qualifying from each one for the final on 17/2. The first heat took place on 13/1, with Silvester Belt and VB Gang qualifying to the final, and with Silvester Belt's song "Luktelk" ("wait a little bit") reaching number 1 in Spotify in Lithuania. The second heat took place on 20/1, with Aistè and Žalvarinis qualifying for the final. The third semi-final took place on 27/1, with Shower and Pluie De Comètes qualifying for the final, and with Shower's entry "Impossible" reaching 10th in the Top 50 Spotify charts of Lithuania. In the fourth semi-final, Monika Marija and Il Senso qualified for the final, while The Roop and Queens of Roses qualified in the last semi-final. The big favourite remained Silvester Belt for the entirety of the national final, and the final took place on 17/2 at the Švyturio Arena in Klaipėda, where in a superfinal alongside The Roop and Shower, Silvester Belt won more than half of all votes cast. Silvester Belt will now represent Lithuania with the song "Luktelk", marking a second Lithuanian-language entry in the span of three years.

It was announced on the day before the 2023 grand final that Luxembourg will return to the contest in 2024 after 30 years of absence. RTL revealed on 3/7 that a national final would take place on 27/1 to select the Luxembourgish entry for Eurovision 2024. The national final took place at the Rockhal in Esch-sur-Alzette, or Esch/Belval. On 1/12, the national final was announced to be named "Luxembourg Song Contest". On 9/1, the songs were released. There was some controversy surrounding the entries, as it was found that of all the songs, only Edsun actually took part writing his own, while many were co-written by Swedes or Norwegians. Another Luxembourgish artist who had been involved in the process also revealed that many of the finalists were only allowed to proceed if they sang a song given to them by the organizers. The show was hosted by Desiree Nosbusch, Melody Funck, Raoul Roos and Loic Juchem, and produced by Tali Eshkoli, former Israeli head of delegation. On 26/1, it was announced that there would be a superfinal, where the top 3 would enter a separate round of voting. In the end, Israeli-born singer Tali won the national final, with a song named "Fighter" written by French-Israeli songwriters.

On 18/11, TVM revealed the 36 semi-finalists for MESC 2024. The first semi-final took place on 28/10, however the qualifiers were not revealed until the end of the fourth semi-final. On 25/11, the 12 qualifiers were revealed. These included MATT BLXCK, Ryan Hili, Denise, Sirena, Greta Tude, among others. On 9/1, TVM announced that there would be six days of MESC. The first three days (29-31/1) would be for interviews, music videos on 1/2, a "nostalgia night" on 2/2 and a final with live perfomances on 3/2. The final took place on 3/2. Despite Matt Blxck having been the odds favourite, Sarah Bonnici eventually emerged victorious with her song "Loop", winning the jury vote and coming 2nd in the televote. Bonnici, formerly a backing dancer for Nicole Azzopardi (Malta JESC 2010), will now represent Malta in Eurovision 2024.

On 26/12, the live audition participants were announced, which included such names as Aliona Moon and Milla, Bumbac Tudor, Natalia Barbu, Valeria Pasha (one of Pasha Parfeni's backing vocalists), Viola Julea. The songs were also released at the same time. However, Aliona Moon and Milla withdrew from the national final the day after the announcement, with no reasoning given. On 10/1, Vovi Robian, with the song "Robotul Vovi", withdrew from the national final, citing health reasons. Live auditions took place on 13/10, where 10 finalists were selected, which include Natalia Barbu (Moldova 2007), Valeria Pasha, Iulia Teleuca, Viola Julea, among others. The final took place on 17/2, where Natalia Barbu emerged victorious after a tie with Valeria Pasha was ruled in Natalia's favour by using the jury as a tiebreaker. This result has since been appealed by Valeria, although TRM pointed out voting irregularities for Valeria, such as votes coming from "exotic" countries such as Aruba and the Bahamas. As such, Natalia Barbu has officially signed the participation contract, and will represent Moldova in Eurovision 2024.

On 11/12, it was officially announced that Joost Klein will represent the Netherlands in Eurovision 2024, despite previous rumours that the final shortlist consisted of Ilse DeLange, Numidia, and Karsu. Joost further elaborated in an interview that his song was co-written with Donald Ellerström and will be fully in Dutch. During the allocation draw, the Netherlands were drawn into the second semi-final. On 20/2, Joost revealed that his song is named "Europapa". The song is dedicated to his father, who passed away when Joost was 12 years old. "Europapa" was released on 29/2.

Norway returned to their longstanding national final Melodi Grand Prix. Each semi-final saw 6 candidates compete to get into the 3 spots for the final. On 7/11, head of delegation Stig Karlsen revealed that MGP will have a jury in the final, but the weighting would be 60% televote, 40% jury. The contestants were revealed on 5/1. Returning names included KEiiNO, Margeret Berger, and Farida (MGP 2022). Gaute Ormåsen was involved for a third year in a row, as he co-wrote the song "My AI" by Super Rob & Erika Norwich. On 28/1, it was reported that Gåte would have to rewrite the lyrics of their song, as the lyrical content was found to be identical to that of a 1000-year old mythical ballad. Favourites included Gåte and KEiiNO. The final took place on 3/2, with Gåte emerging victorious, with fans noting that if the voting system had been 50/50, KEiiNO would have won the selection due to a very high jury score.

For Poland in Eurovision 2024, one interested name is Justyna Steczkowska, who represented Poland in 1995 with the song "Sama". Justyna, currently a judge on The Voice Poland, said that she has "an interesting idea for a song that would have a chance of being well-received". In late November, Justyna wrote on social media that her proposal is "strong and multidimensional", and that it was written in collaboration with Hotel Torino, two songwriters who have been involved in several Polish JESC entries. Justyna later revealed that the song is named "WITCH-ER Tarohoro". The song was released on 28/12. On New Year's Eve, Justyna performed WITCH-ER Tarohoro at the TVP NYE concert alongside a large group of dancers. Last year, Blanka also performed "Solo" at the same concert. Unexpectedly however, on 9/1 TVP (with a new administration) opened submissions for an internal selection. Submissions were open until 2/2, and a five-member committee would then choose the winning song. Justyna could still be selected, however there are other interested names such as LUNA with the song "The Tower". On 12/1, Polish media reported that Artur Orzech, Polish Eurovision commentator between 1992 and 2019, will now return to that post. In addition, the Junior Eurovision head of delegation Marta Piekarska will now also head the delegation for the adult contest. According to Polish rumours, the representative was selected on 14/2. The artist was officially announced on 19/2, that being LUNA with "The Tower". It was reported afterwards that in the internal voting, Justyna had in fact lost to LUNA by one point.

The national final Festival Da Canção will continue, with submissions having closed on 15/10. There will be 20 acts and two semi-finals as usual, with 14 of those acts being invited by RTP and the 6 from public submissions (up from 4 in 2023). On 16/10, RTP announced that a record 809 submissions had been received from the public submission portal, only 6 of which were selected by a jury panel by 31/10 to take part in the national final. The 20 songwriters were revealed on 6/11, which included LEFT, Iolanda, João Borsch, Perpétua, Nena, among others. On 28/12, the semi-final split was announced, which saw the songwriters allocated randomly into the two semi-finals. Having both events in one weekend would cause great stress on the broadcaster. The national final itself will take place on 24/2, 2/3 and 9/3. The songs and artists were presented on 18/1. It was also announced that Filomena Cautela and Vasco Palmeirim will return to host the final of the national final, while Tânia Ribas de Oliveira and José Carlos Malato will host one of the semi-finals. Current favourites include Iolanda, Filipa, and Mela. The running orders of the semi-finals were posted on 9/2. The first semi-final took place on 24/2, where Iolanda solidifed her position as a favourite in the selection. As of 29/2, the live performance of "Grito" by Iolanda has amassed almost 200 thousand videos on the FdC Youtube channel, and is trending top 10 on Youtube in Portugal.

On 8/8, SMRTV announced that the selection Una Voce Per San Marino will return for a third edition, in a contract with Media Evolution. And unlike the previous edition, "big" artists would once again be directly admitted to the final, as in 2022. On 10/10, SMRTV announced that 8 big artists and 8 emerging artists ("emergenti") will take part in the final of the national final. In addition, applications were opened, and =closed on 10/1. As per previous years, the jury was composed of 5 members, which decided the winner of the national final. On 31/12, another set of auditionees were announced, which included Colet and Megara (Benidorm Fest 2022), among others. On 9/1, SMRTV announced a songwriting camp (with humans) to finalize 10 shortlisted tracks produced using AI software from CASPERAKI. One of these tracks will compete in the "big" category in the final of the national final. The list of 129 semi-finalists was published on 30/1. On 5/2, SMRTV announced that the semi-finals will be recorded on 15/2 and 16/2, and broadcast between 19/2 and 23/2. On 19/2, SMRTV announced the big names in the final of the national final. This included names such as Aaron Sibley, Jalisse, Dana Gillespie (with an AI song), La Rua (Sanremo Giovani 2018 2nd place), and Loredana Berte, with the same song she had sung in Sanremo 2024. Ahead of the final, the second chance winners were also annunced, which included Megara. The final took place on 24/2. Despite many thinking that the contest was rigged in favour of Loredana Berte, Megara ended up winning the selection. The band, who took part in Benidorm Fest 2022, will now represent San Marino with the song "11:11".

On 14/7, RTS confirmed to OGAE Serbia that Serbia will participate in Eurovision 2024, and that there will be a national selection to decide the entry. On 6/12, RTS revealed that the final of Pesma Za Evroviziju '24 will take place on 2/3, while the semi-finals will provisionally take place on 27 and 29/2 respectively. Like 2023, there will not be a live audience, and the national final takes place in the RTS studio. 235 entries were received. The 28 participants were revealed on 21/12, which include Zorja, Filip Baloš, Breskvica, Teya Dora, Nadia, Zejna, Konstrakta, among several others. On 23/1, it was announced that Dragana Kosjerina and Slaven Došlo will be hosting the national final. The songs of Pesma Za Euroviziju were revealed on 25/1, as well as the running order of the two semi-finals. Current favourites include Breskvica, Zejna, and Teya Dora. On 18/2, it was reported that Željko Joksimović, Luke Black, and Sanja Vučić will be interval acts at PZE, with the latter performing Cha CHa Cha by Kaarija.

On 5/12, RTVSLO announced that instead of a national final, they will instead continue with internal selections. On 12/12, it was revealed that Raiven, 3-time EMA podium placer, will represent Slovenia with the song "Veronika", a song about a Slovenian countess who was accused of witchcraft. Ahead of the premiere of the song, it was found that Bojan Cvjeticanin, lead singer of Joker Out, was involved as a co-writer of "Veronika", and was also present at the artist announcement event earlier on. The song was released on 20/1. On 24/1, Vanja Vardjan, the Editor-In-Chief of Entertainment at RTVSLO, resigned from his post after allegations of irregularities during the selection of Raiven as the 2024 representative. The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption have started to investigate alleged signs of corruption during the selection process. At the current stage, Raiven is likely unaffected and will still go to Eurovision. Raiven had her first performance of "Veronka" at the second semi-final of Dora (the Croatian national final) as an interval act. It was later reported that Raiven is preparing a new version of "Veronika" for Eurovision, and it has been hinted that there may be more operatic notes in the song.

Spain returned to their national final Benidorm Fest. On 12/11, the 16 artists taking part in the national final were revealed. The list featured artists such as Almacor, Angy Fernandez, Maria Pelae, Nebulossa (who had previously competed in San Marino's national final), and Sofia Coll. The songs were released on 14/12. Favourites included Almacor, Angy Fernandez, Maria Pelae, Nebulossa, and St. Pedro. As of early January, Nebulossa's track "Zorra" has gone viral in Spain, reaching #1 in the Spotify charts. On 9/1, it was revealed at a press conference that Ruth Lorenzo (Spain 2014), Marc Calderó, and Ana Prada would host the national final. In addition, the professional jury was also announced. In addition to the 4 Spanish names, the jury also included Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen (Dutch HOD), David Tserunyan (Armenian HOD), Lee Smithurst (UK HOD), and Nicoline Refsing, Danish staging director and artistic director of ESC2014. On 30/1, the first semi-final took place, where Nebulossa, Angy Fernandez, Sofia Coll and Miss Caffeina qualified for the final. The second semi-final took place two days later, where Maria Pelae, Almacor, St. Pedro, and Jorge Gonzalez qualified for the final. The final took place on 3/2, and Nebulossa emerged victorious, winning the jury and televote, and coming 3rd in the demoscopic jury. It was reported afterwards that Nebulossa had in fact only won the televote by 2 *votes*, which gave them 5 more points than the televote runner-up, Jorge Gonzalez. Nebulossa will now represent Spain with "Zorra". Despite the title of the song being able to be interpreted vulgarly, the EBU has confirmed on 5/2 that neither the title nor the lyrics of the song will need to be changed for Eurovision.

On 29/6, SVT announced format changes for Melodifestivalen 2024. There will be an additional 2 songs competing in the contest bringing the total number of songs up to 30. Those 30 songs will take part in 5 heats, with each heat consisting of 6 songs. From each heat, 2 songs will qualify for the final. Directly after the final heat, 2 more songs will qualify from the non-qualifiers; in particular, all the songs from the heats which placed 3rd or 4th will once again be up for voting via app or SMS in a live program from the arena. The two qualifiers will be determined by a sum of the votes those entries had already received, plus the votes the entries receive during this extra voting round. On 20/9, the locations and dates of Melodifestivalen 2024 were announced by SVT. The first heat will take place in Eurovision host city Malmö on 3/2, with heats in different cities every week thereafter, culminating in a final in Stockholm on 9/3. The 30 participants were finally revealed on 1/12. ]On 12/1, it was announced by SVT that Carina Berg will host Melodifestivalen 2024 alone. This deviates from the report made by Aftonbladet in November, which claimed that Björn Gustafsson would join Berg. This is the first time in 15 years where the national final was entirely presented by only one person, the last time of which was 2009 with Petra Mede. On 25/1, SVT announced that A*Teens would reunite as an interval act for the first semi-final of Melodifestivalen. The first heat took place on 3/2, where Smash Into Pieces and Lisa Ajax qualified directly for the final, while Elisa Lindstrom and Adam Woods will proceed to the runoff vote, meaning that Samir & Viktor did not even get top 4. The second heat took place on 10/2. Liamoo and Maria Sur qualified direct to final, while Froken Snusk and Dear Sara went to the runoff vote. The third heat took place on 17/2, with Cazzi Opeia and Jacqline qualifying for the final, and Gunilla Persson and Klaudy will go to the runoff. The fourth heat took place on 24/2, with Danny Saucedo and Dotter qualifying direct for the final, while Scarlet and Albin Tingwall will go to the runoff.

Between 30/5 and 1/6, the SUISA songwriting camp took place in Zurich, where the songs are usually submitted to the Swiss broadcaster for consideration in Eurovision. Among others, it involved Elsie Bay, Linda Dale (Queen of Kings songwriter), and Teya from Teya and Salena, with the latter tweeting that she thinks it is very likely for the 2024 Swiss entry to come from this songwriting camp, and also thinks that fans will love the song. On 2/8, SRF announced that they will be returning to an internal selection, and they are "looking for a modern, striking song that complies with international requirements". On 4/12, it was revealed that the submissions, which numbered more than 420 in total, have been narrowed down to 5 songs, and that it was being sent out to a professional jury and an international audience panel. In addition, the final decision will be made at the start of 2024, and revealed in March. On 22/12, the Swiss head of delegation revealed on his Instagram story that Switzerland will not be sending a male ballad for 2024, however no further details were announced. The Swiss entry and representative was revealed officially on 29/2, and non-binary artist Nemo will represent Switzerland with the song "The Code", a track containing opera, rap, pop, and various other genres.

On 9/11, the 20-long longlist for Ukrainian national final Vidbir was revealed. These names included a duet of alyona alyona & Jerry Heil, MELOVIN (Ukraine 2018), among others. MELOVIN soon after revealed that he was diagnosed with a chronic illness, although it is not known if this will impact his participation in the national selection. On 17/11, the first 10 finalists were revealed after live auditions took place. These finalists included alyona alyona & Jerry Heil, MELOVIN, YAGODY, Ziferblat, among others. The national final will take place on 3/2, with Timur Miroshnychenko plus a TBA female host. On 13/12, UA:PBC released the songs for the longlist entries. Minus one withdrawal, these 9 acts were then voted upon in the "Diia" app by Ukrainians to select the 11th finalist. The wildcard vote ended on 21/12, and the winner was revealed to be ANKA, with the song "Palala", who joined the other 10 finalists to take part in the live national final. The songs of the other finalists were revealed on 11/1. The national final was hosted by long-time Eurovision commentator Timur Miroshnychenko, Eurovision 2023 co-host and The Hardkiss lead vocalist Julia Sanina, and comedian Vasyl Baidak. Voting for the jury members also opened on the "Diya" app; among the candidates were Kateryna Pavlenko from Go_A and Jamala. On 22/1, the jury members were revealed to be Jamala, Andrii Danylko (aka Verka Serduchka) and Serhii Tanchynec. The performances in the national final took place on 3/2, but voting was extended due to errors with the "Diya" application. The winner was finally announced on 4/2, where it was revealed that alyona alyona & Jerry Heil had in fact received over 700 thousand votes, more than 600 thousand votes AHEAD of the runner-up. Combined with a second place in the jury vote, this means that alyona alyona & Jerry Heil have won the selection, and will now represent Ukraine in Eurovision 2024.

On 1/8, TaP Music officially announced on Twitter that they were "handing back the baton" to the BBC. On 18/10, the BBC posted in an article that Eurovision will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. On 26/11, British tabloid The Sun reported that Olly Alexander, lead singer of Years & Years and artist with several number 1 hit singles, is currently already in "advanced talks" with the BBC to represent the UK at Eurovision 2024, and is the favourite among higher-ups. Olly Alexander had previously also been considered in 2022, and much news was made when it was reported that he was rejected in favour of Sam Ryder. This was confirmed on 16/12, when the BBC officially announced Olly as the British representative for 2024. It was also announced that his song was co-written and produced by Danny L Harle, who recently also wrote Dua Lipa's latest single "Houdini", and who was also behind a number of tracks of other famous Anglophone artists, such as Charli XCX and Caroline Polachek. Olly also revealed that the song is an electronic dance song, "not a ballad", and will have 80s influences. After the announcement of Olly as representative, the UK jumped to become the favourite to win Eurovision in the (primarily British-run) bookmakers, marking the first time in decades that this has occurred. It was revealed officially in mid-February that Olly's song is named "Dizzy", a 30-second snippet was shared on TikTok, and the full track will be released on 1/3. On 16/2, it was reported on Georgian news that the music video for Dizzy will in fact be shot in Georgia, hence some Instagram stories of Olly and Nutsa Buzaladze meeting up in Tbilisi dancing to Dizzy and eating khachapuri.

So that's all I know about Eurovision 2024 so far! I'm still trying to figure out how I can record a video in peace in this damned dormitory, but hopefully I'll get something out there soon enough. For now, you can have this; I looked at some NFs, but also internal selections from these last few days of February:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eya9vIRCv6M