Eurovision 2024: What We Know So Far (as of November 2023)

Really sorry that this one is pretty much a whole month late; I was just really busy and/or demotivated during November. Regardless, I've timestamped all the news, so here are all the Eurovision 2024 news we have as of the end of November 2023.

Eurovision 2024

Host Country: Sweden

And oh boy do they make that clear. In past years, SVT has been extremely proactive in getting the ball rolling, and this year is no exception. One way in which we see that is in the host city selection, speaking of which...

Host City: Malmö (Malmö Arena)

On 15/6, Aftonbladet reported on a "secret" 123-long list of host city demands from SVT. Some such demands included:

• Up to 3500 hotel rooms available during the week of the final

• Fixed hotel prices for the two-week period leading up to the contest, with prices reported and guaranteed throughout the period

• An arena available for seven or eight consecutive weeks, incl. the week after the final for stage dismantling; to be available in mid-March for a visit by the heads of delegation

• Press centre with room for 1200 journalists (cf. 500 since 2021)

• Workspaces for accredited journalists

• Spacious room for televised press conferences

• 600+ volunteers

• A space in the city for 1500-2000 people and a 200-300-metre turquoise carpet, to be held the Sunday before the week of the show (i.e. 5/5 or 12/5)

• A venue for the official Euroclub with a stage, open every day between 23:00 and 3:00

• A venue for Eurovillage with daily live performances

• Organization and execution of a possible post-final party

• Pay for all costs surrounding the event excluding the production of Eurovision itself, which is covered by SVT. The city can sign agreements with the required subcontractors, e.g. arena, hotels, transport companies

You can read more about the host city "race" in WWKSF blog posts of previous months. On the 7th, SVT announced that Malmö will be the host of Eurovision 2024. The host arena will be the Malmö Arena, the same location where Eurovision 2013 was hosted.

Hosts: unknown

Obviously the pair of Måns and Petra Mede immediately come to mind, but there are a few obstacles there: first off, Måns lives in London now, not Sweden; and second, Petra Mede works for TV4 now, which is a rival channel to SVT. It's not impossible to hire someone from a rival channel just for Eurovision, but it would be a weird look. Plus (IIRC) Tobbe Ek from Aftonbladet said on the Euro Trip podcast that Petra Mede has back problems, to the point where she would not be able to host a 2-hour-long show in one go.

Other names that have been posited include Sanna Nielsen (Sweden 2014 "Undo"), as well as Farah Abadi (Melodifestivalen 2022-23 co-host, 2023 Swedish jury spokesperson). Some people however pointed out that if media figures publicly offer to host the show, it likely means that they were never approached for the role by SVT and thus will not be selected. So far, Sanna Nielsen has written about it on Instagram, so maybe we won't see her as one of the hosts next year. But not much is known publicly in that department. Other rumoured names include Sarah Dawn Finer and Oscar Zia.

On 17/11, when approached by Eurovision fan press at Het Grote Songfestivalfeest in Amsterdam, Måns Zelmerlöw said that he had not been approached by SVT to host the contest.

Near the end of November, it has increasingly been rumoured that Gina Dirawi may be selected as a presenter for Eurovision 2024. Dirawi is a Swedish television presenter of Palestinian descent. During the talk show Hellenius Hörna, Dirawi was asked about the possibility of hosting Eurovision. Dirawi allegedly tried to avoid the question and told the audience to keep quiet, and the particular segment was later cut out of the live broadcast.

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. Karlsen also believes that autotune may find a place in Eurovision in the coming years, similar to the newly introduced autotune in MGP. On 12/9, a workshop of delegations took place in Berlin, during which Karlsen posted a photo on social media saying "mission complete". It is not known whether this pertains to jury reform. 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. In the same document detailing the 123 points to fulfill for a host city, 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. This contrasts greatly with previous years, where the final in Liverpool went about 15 minutes overtime, and went from 21:00 to 1:15. It is not known what SVT plan to cut in order to achieve this, be it the jury voting sequence, flag parade or interval acts. 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. Particularly, the Deputy Director-General of the EBU said that the EBU thinks that the "creativity should come from humans and not from machines", and that AI "dilutes the genuine, spontaneous emotions that characterize Eurovision performances". It is not known whether a decision will be made before Eurovision in Malmo. 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, some of which being troll entries.

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, it was 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.

Eurovision Reference Group: member changes

Astrid Dutrenit (NPO), Sietse Bakker (NPO), Yuval Cohen (KAN), and David Tserunyan (AMPTV) have left the group, while Ebba Adielsson (SVT) and Ana Maria Bordas (RTVE) have joined. Bakel Walden (SRG SSR) is the new chairperson. This was criticized by some Eurovision fans, with the most easterly countries now represented in the group being Italy and Sweden, whereas they had members from Armenia and Israel previously. Coming back to Ebba Adielsson, she is also the Executive Producer for ESC2024, which is a good time to talk about...

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)

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. "Executive Line Producer" refers to finances and overall technical production. Remaining positions to be filled shortly. It is speculated that Edward af Sillén (main Swedish commentator since 2009) may be brought back to write the scripts for the show, just like he had done with 2010 (when SVT wasn't even hosting), 2013, 2016, and he was also responsible for the iconic interval act "Love Love Peace Peace". 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.

Budget: unknown

But most likely to be very low, perhaps in the range of 12-15 million euros. 2013 and 2016 are famously some of the cheapest Eurovisions since the 2010s, despite many praising the production of the latter in particular. Furthermore, Swedes have said that currently SVT do not have much funding.

Some even speculate that we may have another LED-less Eurovision, akin to 2018, and that this will be done in the name of "sustainability". Indeed, this may even tie into the actual theme and slogan of the contest itself.

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.

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". However, she also said that she doesn't know whether she would be "up to compete in the competition", despite watching the contest every year and being very proud to be a Swede in this regard. Larsson also says she is interested in working with Loreen. On 1/7, Larsson confirmed during Nyhetsmorgon that she is currently in talks to perform at Eurovision 2024.

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.

Pre-parties:

• PrePartyES (28th - 30th March 2024, Sala La Riviera, Madrid, Spain)

Tickets go on sale starting on the 1st of September, at 12:00 CET. 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.

• 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. It will feature Albina (Croatia 2021), Cornelia Jakobs (Sweden 2022), Herreys (Sweden 1984), among others.

• London Eurovision Party (7th April 2024, London)

• 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.

Non-participating Countries (so far): Andorra?, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Monaco, Montenegro?, Slovakia, Russia

Pretty much what you'd expect. Although unlike previous years where RTVS would say that there is no interest in Slovakia, they clarified this year that they are simply not able to afford the costs of participation. In addition, it was reported by Eurofestivales on 8/8 that RTVS are in fact considering returning to the contest in 2025, according to the Head of PR Zuzana Vicelova, a decision that was made by Ľuboš Machaj who took over as the new RTVS Director General in 2022. One thing that allows them to now afford the costs of participation is that a new law was adopted by the Slovak government, which introduces a new way of financing RTVS and provides the broadcaster with an increase of budget by 46 million euros for next year. Machaj also said directly that "Eurovision is a pan-European affair and Slovakia should be represented in it". As reported by eurocontest.cz, negotiations about Eurovision are currently taking place in RTVS and they "look very promising". In addition, at the moment, it is being decided how RTVS will select representatives, and sponsors are being dealt with.

Although it is not surprising to see Andorra yet again absent from the contest, it was reported on RAC1 that according to Susanne Georgi (Andorra 2009), the Andorran government in fact does have an intention to return to Eurovision, although it would also require the cooperation of the national broadcaster. A more precise date range is not yet known, but Georgi rules out 2024 due to the Games of the Small States of Europe (which, bizarrely, are being hosted by Andorra in 2025). In addition, Georgi also says that she has procured the necessary funds to return to the contest, and for 2024 her team is working to hold a pre-party in Andorra. An official of RTVA reiterated (with no further reasoning) on 17/8 that Andorra will not take part in the 2024 contest, although he did not mention future editions. However, 2 days later, a different official said to a separate Eurovision fan site that a decision had not yet been made on participation.

It is not known what will happen with Australia, as their contract to take part without invitation ended with 2023. Some Australian Eurofans have stated that they have not heard any news about this from SBS, and the low funding could jeopardize any future participation. On 21/9, ESCToday reported that SBS were currently "under discussion" with the EBU regarding future Australian participation in Eurovision, and that more details would be confirmed as soon as they are able. On 31/10, SBS confirmed that Eurovision 2024 will be broadcast on SBS, however they are currently still in discussions with the EBU to continue taking part, which is their intention.

After having delayed the launch of their new public broadcaster, the broadcaster has since been renamed "TVMONACO" and was launched on 1/9. Recall that in the 2023 Monegasque budget they had previously put away 100 thousand euros for taking part in ESC2023. On 4/9, ESC Today reported that TVMONACO has joined the MMD (Monaco Media Diffusion) which is in the EBU, thus making TVMONACO itself an EBU member. Monaco is thus eligible to take part in Eurovision 2024, as long as they confirm participation by 15/9, even prompting Monegasque Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc to respond "I'm ready" to the Eurovoix article reporting this. However, on 15/9, TVMONACO confirmed to ESC Today that they will not take part in Eurovision 2024. The editor-in-chief of TVMONACO later explained to a magazine that "the deadlines are too tight for registrations. Furthermore, the launch of the channel does not allow us, at this stage, to concentrate on this project immediately".

According to Montenegrin media outlet CDM, Montenegro will not take part in Eurovision 2024. No reason had been given. This has yet to be officially confirmed by RTCG.

After a series of dramas where 2023 Romanian representative Theodor Andrei said that he was repeatedly ignored by TVR during the process of Eurovision amidst allegations of TVR money laundering, many Romanians are now calling for Romania to withdraw from the contest. It is not known whether this will happen, but an online poll was conducted last year regarding participation. In addition, TVR has recently cut two best-rated shows from their autumn schedule to cut costs, suggesting that they may not be able to afford Eurovision. Despite this however, 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.

Rumours were rife when Victoria (Bulgaria 2020, 2021) said that there would be something special, and liked responses that related to Eurovision. In addition, the BNT Twitter account also agreed that there would be something special. However, this did not turn out to be Eurovision-related, and in fact Victoria announced her presence at Amsterdam Calling 2024 by saying "Bulgaria may not be in Eurovision", implying that Bulgaria is most likely not going to be present in Eurovision 2024.

On 14/11, the EBU wrote in a press release that the list of participating broadcasters is "currently being finalized" and will be published once preparations are complete.

Returns: Luxembourg, North Macedonia?

On 12/5, the day before the grand final of Eurovision 2023, the EBU announced that Luxembourg will return to the contest after 30 years of absence. Wonder who's written an entire separate blog post on that...

On 15/9, the MRT 2024 budget was released, and it was found that 1.5M Macedonian Denar (~24k euros) had been allocated to Eurovision and Junior Eurovision participation in 2024. See "Participating Countries" section for more details.

There is also a non-zero chance for Montenegro to return, seeing as they (like North Macedonia) also broadcast Eurovision 2023, however at the moment it seems somewhat unlikely. If they return, there is a good chance Enisa will be selected. Enisa is from Brooklyn NY and represented New York in the American Song Contest, but her parents are Montenegrin-Albanian and she also speaks fluent Albanian and has visited Montenegro several times. She revealed on Twitter last year that she was supposed to represent Montenegro in Eurovision 2023 with the song "OLE", however that fell through as RTCG were not able to finance the entry. On 15/9, when asked about participation, the Montevizija Twitter page responded with a GIF of Rihanna silently drinking tea.

There had previously been hope of Turkey returning to Eurovision, after Turkish opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu was placed by many as quite likely to win the 2023 Turkish elections. However, despite big cities such as Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara voting for Kilicdaroglu in majority, Erdogan still won the election in the end. A return to the song contest is thus extremely unlikely in the next few years. Although TRT has recently started copyright striking several Youtube videos which feature Turkish Eurovision performances.

According to Stig Karlsen on the aforementioned podcast guest performance (a Hungarian podcast), the EBU wants Hungary to return to the contest, and Karlsen expressed hope that discussions between the EBU and the Hungarian delegation could lead to a comeback perhaps not in 2024 but 2025.

Participating Countries (so far): Albania, Armenia*, 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

Georgia has confirmed participation but not provided any further information. The deadline for participation confirmation was 15/9, although countries were able to withdraw without any cost until 13/10.

RTSH confirmed participation in Eurovision 2024, and posted a new trailer for Festivali I Këngës 62. Submissions closed on 10/10. On 8/10, Bojken Lako, the artistic director for FIK 62, announced that this year the winner will be decided by a combination of 50% jury and 50% televote, as opposed to 100% televote the previous year and 100% jury the years before that. On 11/10, RTSH reported that more than 80 entries were received, many of which came from outside of Albania, such as from Kosovo, North Macedonia, Germany, Sweden, Italy and the United States. On 14/10, OGAE Albania announced that FIK 62 will take place from the 19th to the 22nd of December. On 17/10, after a few days of fake participation lists going around social media, RTSH posted the official participant list of FIK 62, along with their respective song titles. Names include FIK 61 jury winner Elsa Lila, Kejsi Tola (Albania 2009), Kastro Zizo, Besa Kokëdhima, Samanta Karavella, Sardi Strugaj, and Olimpia Smajlaj, among others. Despite Luiz Ejlli (Albania 2006, now an Albanian celebrity) having submitted a song written by Klodian Qafoku, he did not appear on the final list. In addition, it was also announced that like last year, the songs will not be published until they have been performed once at the festival. On 15/10, prive.al reported that Arbana Osmani, FIK62 (and 61) host, will have four co-hosts, one of which has been confirmed to be Xhemi Shehu. On 2/11, Kejsi Tola and Samanta Karavella were confirmed to be withdrawing from the festival, and were subsequently replaced with other candidates. This comes after the announcement that the voting system would revert to the 2023 system, with the jury and televote selecting different winners, and the televote winner going to Eurovision. The running orders for the first two nights were also drawn. Notably, the two big favourites Elsa Lila and Besa Kokëdhima were both drawn second in their respective nights. Adriana Matoshi will also be one of the hosts. On 9/11, RTSH announced that Kledi Kadiu will instead be the main host.

Armenia has yet to officially confirm participation yet, however after some fake rumours of a national final, the newest rumours are now claiming that Iveta Mukuchyan will return to the contest, with a song in Armenian.

Austria are returning to an internal selection. This was confirmed to Kleine Zeitung by ORF program director Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz. One possible interested name is Slomo, who applied last year, and liked Schreiber's post. Another possible name is Julia Steen, who is Teya and Salena's manager and who recently wrote new songs with Teya which she intends to send to the Austrian broadcaster. Other interested names are Thomas Glan and Dominik Gassner. On 1/9, ORF Eurovision scout Eberhard Forcher posted that they have already "landed some exciting acts" and stresses that songs which do not "convey an exciting narrative or message" has "no great need" to them. Two days later, it was reported that Martin Gastinger (ORF Head of Entertainment) is considering putting live performances of shortlisted candidates for public online voting. On 2/10, Forcher posted on Facebook that they have received over 60 submissions, and that the Eurovision 2024 Austrian representative will be announced no later than December. In addition, he also revealed that a public voting had been planned, however it could not be implemented for legal reasons. The Austrian representative will be announced sometime in December.

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, such as what kind of movie the song would go with. 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.

RTBF announced on 30/8 that Mustii will represent Belgium in Malmo. Mustii has never taken part in The Voice Belgique, instead being a judge on Drag Race Belgium. He has 45000 monthly listeners on Spotify, and several of his songs have amassed over 1 million streams. According to an interview from VRT, his track will be released in February 2024, and Mustii says that he "wants to go to Eurovision with my own DNA" and be "sincere and authentic".

On 15/9, HRT opened song submissions for Dora 2024, and they will close on 30/11. A maximum of 28 songs as well as 4 reserves will be selected by a jury, and those participants will be announced in early December. The show(s) will take place in February, with the exact number of shows being determined by 10/1 at the latest. On 30/11, an interview with the Croatian head of delegation revealed that he is "hopeful" that there will be at least one semi-final for the national final, and aims for 24 songs to compete. By 10/1, HRT will decide how many shows Dora will consist of. The final will tentatively take place on 24/2.

On 3/9, OGAE Greece reported that Cyprus will, after weeks of speculation, be represented by Greek-Australian singer Silia Kapsis. On 25/9, it was officially announced that Silia Kapsis will indeed represent Cyprus in Eurovision 2024. Kapsis will sing a song written by Dimitris Kontopoulos, part of the "Dream Team" who had previously been behind various Greek, Russian and Moldovan entries. According to some rumours, her song may be "Liar", a track which was the favourite in the Greek internal selection in 2023, and had been sung by Melissa Mantzoukis who went on to sue ERT for jury rigging, and the song to date has not been released publicly. 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 16/10, Czech broadcaster ČT announced that Czechia will take part in Eurovision 2024. In addition, the national final ESCZ will also return, and submissions will close on 6/11. One notable rule change this year is that the main vocalist of a given song does not necessarily have to have Czech citizenship; artists from Slovakia who live and work in Czechia are also allowed to enter the national final. One particular artist who falls under this category is Adonxs, who would become eligible to submit songs to the national final under this new rule. One other interested name is Barbora Mochowa, who had been in ESCZ 2019 and 2020, but who now works in New York, and is soon to release a new album. On 14/11, it was revealed that the national final will take place on 4/12 at the Roxy Club in Prague, to be presented once again by Adam Misik. However, the voting will then go on for a week, after which the winner will be revealed. In addition, Cesár Sampson will be the green room hosts, interviewing contestants before they go on stage. On 22/11, head of delegation Kryštof Šámal revealed to the Euro Trip Podcast that there may be more than 5 entries in the national final, possibly 7.

Denmark are returning to their national final DMGP. On 31/8, submissions were opened and will close on 27/10. Fans noted however that Fyr Og Flamme (Denmark 2021) posted a song on 8/9 named "Kærlighed Og Krig", which is theoretically eligible to enter the national final. On 28/9, DR announced that the national final will take place at the Koncertsalen in Copenhagen on 17/2. In addition, they also said that there will be a "closer screening of songs", and that the jury will now include music industry professionals from Denmark and elsewhere. In addition, an interview with DMGP director Erik Struve Hansen revealed that DR have had meetings with experts in the music industry as well as fans from the official DMGP fan club. They have also looked statistically at recent editions of Eurovision, and analyzed the types of songs and genres that did well and where Denmark stood in relation to them. The voting app will also be tested thoroughly before the national final so as to not repeat the crash that occurred in 2023. There will still be 8 entries in the national final, same as previous years. On 4/11, Erik Struve Hansen revealed that about 500 entries were received. In addition, the selected entries will be released about 3 weeks before the show. In addition, one week before the show, on 10/2, there will be a special session where all contestants will have to sing their song acoustic. There will again be two voting rounds. In the first round, the hosts will announce the finalists in random order, although it was not revealed how many songs will be sent to the second round.There will be 10 Danish and 10 foreign jury members, and it was also revealed that former Eurovision commentator Ole Tøpholm had an important role in the selection of the jury members. The members of the jury are not yet known, but will be announced during the show. On 27/11, it was announced that the hosts for the show will be Stéphanie Surrugue and Sara Bro.

On 5/7, ERR reported that the chief producer of Eesti Laul (the Estonian national final), Tomi Rahula, will be stepping down from this post after having been in this role for 5 years. It is not yet known who will become Rahula's successor as the Eesti Laul chief producer. This change in personnel has been welcomed by fans on social media, who deemed Eesti Laul under Rahula to be too "safe" and mainstream. On 29/8, Killandi revealed that Eesti Laul 2024 submissions will open on 15/9, but still did not provide an answer as to Rahula's successor. On 15/9, submissions for Eesti Laul 2024 were opened. Format changes were also announced; in particular, there will only be one semi-final, with 15 songs fighting to be the 5 which qualify for the final. They will be joined in the final by 5 other songs, which will have been directly admitted to the final, making 10 songs in the final. The semi-finalists will be revealed no later than 8/11, while the songs will be released no later than 8/12. The final of the national final will take place on 17/2. On 23/10, ERR revealed that 215 songs had been received, 126 of which are in English, 88 in Estonian, and 1 in Italian, prompting fans to speculate on a potential return of Elina Nechayeva. This was later disproven when ERR revealed that Nechayeva, among others, were actually on the jury panel which selected the entries for Eesti Laul 2024. On 2/11, it was announced that Tõnis Niinemets and Grete Kuld will return to present the national final. The artists were announced on 6/11 and 7/11 on the show Ringvaade, which consisted of Ollie (EL2023 "Venom"), Carlos Ukareda (EL2023 "Whiskey Don't Forget"), Laura Põldvere (Estonia 2005, UMK 2021), among others. The songs will be released on 8/12.

Finland are returning to their national final as well, named UMK. The application period started on 21/8 and lasts for 3 days, which is earlier than the usual September. The rulebook has also been published. One possible name is Lola, who was seen in early June to be writing a new song with Elsie Bay (MGP 2022/23), with the possible intent of sending it to UMK. On 3/10, Yle announced that UMK24 will take place in the Nokia Arena in Tampere, which can hold up to 15000 people. Furthermore, the final will take place on 10/2, and tickets went on sale on 5/10, and sold out within an hour. The chair of the UMK jury also commented on the selected songs, saying that the seven entries this year are the "all-time best group of entries", which consist of:

• a talented artist's first 90s-style dance song

• a power song by a true vocal talent

• perhaps the best song of an indie favourite's career

• two big name performers doing a surprising duo with a serious refrain

• a thunderous rock anthem by a world-touring band

• a seriously intense song from one of the most listened-to artists in Finland

• a hard-hitting club banger by a well-known artist making a comeback

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 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.

On 7/9, German broadcaster NDR opened song submissions for the national final "Eurovision Song Contest, Das Deutsche Finale 2024", and the submissions will close on 15/10. Unlike last year, there will no longer be a TikTok wildcard. Artists can also enter even if they do not yet have a song. The national final will take place on 16/2 in Berlin. It was also reported that NDR may hand Eurovision over to another regional broadcaster starting in 2025, although this is still under discussion. On 21/9, Allgäuer Zeitung reported that Ralph Siegel, who had written "Ein Bisschen Frieden", Germany's first-ever winning entry, has now submitted an entry to the German national final. He has written a song for a 23 year old singer named Aileen Sager, and says that he dreams to "win for Germany again". Another interested name was Tilly Electronics. Ikke Hüftgold, who had come second in the 2023 national final, also said that he had submitted another song for 2024, although he later said that this was not for Germany, but for a smaller country (interpreted by fans as San Marino). It was announced on 4/10 that due to "popular demand", the submissions would be extended to 15/10. On 17/10, NDR announced that 693 submissions had been received, 572 of which submitted one or more songs, while the rest did not have a song. Of the 693, 495 of them were soloists, 71 of them duos, and 127 of them bands. A few such submissions were Alexandra Hofmann, with a song written by Jørgen Olsen, Stefanie Heinzmann, From Fall To Spring, Melissa Mantzoukis, ALLY, Apollson, Florian Suerie, and Spielhagen. On 25/11, ESC Kompakt reported that 32 songs were still in the running, and that a third of said songs are sung in the German language.

Despite fears of withdrawal due to a combination of poor results and a pro-Russian government, GPB confirmed Eurovision 2024 participation on 15/9. The artist and song selection method is as yet unknown, although fans have speculated that given the silence and lack of The Voice Georgia or another talent show being used as the selection method, there might be an internal selection. Looking at past internal selections from Georgia, the candidate would then likely be announced in December.

On 24/10, ERT revealed that Marina Satti will represent Greece in Malmö. An already established artist in Greece, she is of half-Sudanese origin, and 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. One interested songwriter is Kostas Karalis, who claimed that his song would be able to bring Greece into the top 3. Otherwise, Satti also said in an interview that she already has several songs ready, and has also approached other songwriters, both old and new collaborators. She also stressed that she will be authentic to her style when selecting a song for Eurovision, although she might sing in English which is not typical of her, as her discography is almost exclusively in Greek. 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. It was claimed on the talk show "SUPER Katerina" on 15/11 that Satti's entry will not be selected by any internal ERT committee, and that there would be new commentators for Eurovision as well. In an interview on 20/11, Marina Satti said that she wanted to break stereotypes about Greek music, and that there are no losers or winners in Eurovision. Some reports had suggested that a national final might be held to select Satti's entry, but this was later denied.

On 15/6, the submissions for Icelandic national final Söngvakeppnin were opened, and they closed on 10/9. On 13/10, RUV announced that they had received 118 songs. In addition, 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 will be revealed during the show "Lögin í Söngvakeppninni" on 27/1. On 24/10, Daði (Iceland 2020, 2021) posted a cryptic tweet saying that "Iceland will win Eurovision 2024", but then added that he himself will not be participating.

In a rare act, Ireland also opened song submissions on 15/6, as opposed to late September as in 2022. Instead, the submissions are closing in late September this year. Furthermore, the submission website makes no mention of the Late Late Show, leading fans to speculate that for once Ireland may actually have a separate national final that is not on a late night talk show. Regardless, the national final will take place in "early 2024". On 20/6, Irish artist Roisin O , who had an album reach number 3 in Ireland in 2022, also said in an interview with Independent.ie that if she had enough support she would "definitely give it [Eurovision] a go", and that she would want to do it right since the whole process takes six months. Indie artist Orla Gartland was also tagged on Twitter by Irish Eurofans asking her to submit a song, and she responded "omg imagine", and then later "shoutout to the unreal amount of people who have tweeted me in the last 24 hours tweeting me to go for Eurovision 2024". Another interested artist is aliensincaves, an alternative rock group from Waterford, who announced on Twitter that they will submit a song to Eurosong 2024. On 29/8, Irish artist Erica Cody (who was on the jury in 2023) said in an interview that she is interested in doing Eurovision, she has the song (and even the choreography and creative direction) and she "wants to do Ireland proud". Another name that submitted a song was folk metal band Cruachan, who had also entered an entry in 2023. In recent days, it was also revealed that Brooke (Ireland 2022) had also submitted an entry, hoping to return to Eurovision after 2 years.

Israel is returning to their national final "HaKokhav HaBa", known in English as "Rising Star", which had previously already been used between 2015 and 2020 as Israel's national final. It will be broadcast by Keshet 12. On 24/7, the hosts and judging panel for the show were announced. The hosts are the same ones who hosted between 2015-2020. The judging panel will be led by Aden Hason, who composed Israel's 2018 Junior Eurovision entry. In addition, it was also announced that casting has already begun, and the auditions will be filmed in September, while the program itself is expected to be broadcast in November. The first auditions took place on 10/9, at the Tel Aviv Expo which hosted Eurovision 2019. Unlike the auditions later in September however, these auditions will not be filmed. On 28/10, the first episode of Rising Star was supposed to be broadcast, however it was delayed to 4/11 owing to the deaths of two IDF soldiers while they were bombing a refugee camp in Gaza.

On 15/5, it was reported that Eurovision will continue to be broadcast on Rai 1 in 2024. Furthermore, Sanremo 2024 will be Amadeus' last Sanremo for the time being, as he will step down as host and director after 2024 but does not rule out returning to host the show in a few years. In early June, Dagospia reported that Annalisa, Elodie, Emma Marrone and Arisa could accompany Amadeus in presenting the festival, rather than taking part in it. However, All Music Italia reported later that Amadeus apparently wants Annalisa to take part in the festival. The rules for Sanremo Giovani were also published, and only three young artists from Giovani will enter and participate in Sanremo 2024, as opposed to six last year. Domani reported on 21/6 that there are rising chances that Andrea Delogu and Ema Stokholma to be co-hosts for Sanremo 2024. On 3/7, Dagospia reported that Amadeus is trying to have Meghan Markle appear at the festival. On 7/7 Amadeus announced that Sanremo will take place between 6/2 and 10/2. On 10/7, Amadeus announced changes to the festival. *All* songs will be presented and sung on the first night, while the artists will be split into two groups for the second and third nights. Those artists that do not sing in one night will act as co-hosts, introducing the artists that will be singing that night. The fourth night will be covers night, where artists can sing any songs including their own. The demoscopic jury will also be replaced with a "radio jury". More precisely, the Press Jury votes on the first night and on covers night, while the televote and Radio Jury will vote on the second, third, and fourth (i.e. cover) nights. In addition, only the televote will vote on the last night, prior to the superfinal. The overall split prior to the superfinal is thus 26.6% Press Jury, 26.6% Radio Jury, and 46.8% televote. And in the superfinal, the votes are reset and all three juries will have nearly equal voting power, except the televote which will have 34% of the vote. The submissions closed on 27/11. The winner of festival is required to represent Italy in Eurovision 2024. Vero Magazine reported on 30/7 that Marco Mengoni will "probably" cohost Sanremo 2024 with Amadeus. On 2/8, All Music Italia reported on a list of possible participants, which include Il Volo, Diodato, Mahmood, gIANMARIA, Sangiovanni, Achille Lauro, Irama, Mr. Rain, La Rappresentante Di Lista, Annalisa, Emma, Ermal Meta, among others. On 29/9, an interview with Annalisa was released, in which she said that she has not yet sent a song to Amadeus, and she would like to go to Eurovision although she has to first find the right song. The final of Sanremo Giovani will take place on 13/12 (which was later changed to 19/12), after which the three additional Sanremo (proper) contestants will be revealed. On 24/10, Adnkronos reported that Negramaro, Subsonica, The Kolors and Jovanotti may take part in the festival. On 30/10, Fiorello announced that he will be hosting his morning show from Sanremo during the week of the festival, and will also be joining Amadeus onstage for the final of Sanremo. On 1/11, All Music Italia reported that Annalisa's Sanremo song will be a "mid tempo track with a hypnotic chorus". In addition, Edwyin Roberts, co-author of Fai Rumore, apparently also contributed to the writing of Il Volo and Dargen D'Amico's songs. Also, Alessandra Amoroso has apparently submitted an emotional ballad, while The Kolors' entry is as impactful as their earlier hit "Italodisco". On 30/11, the co-hosts for each night were announced. Notably, Marco Mengoni will co-host the first night, Giorgia the second, and Fiorello the final night. The big artists will be announced on 3/12.

On 11/9, LTV announced the return of Latvian national final Supernova. The submissions opened on 12/9 and will close on 1/12. The artists will be revealed in January, and the final will take place in February. On 14/11, it was reported that Leon Myszkowski, Justyna (Poland 1995)'s oldest son, was working with Markus Riva from Latvia to write an entry for the Latvian national final.

On 18/10, LRT announced that the national final has been renamed to "Eurovizija.LT", and submissions were opened and will close on 11/12. At least 20 artists will be selected, and there will be four or five semi-finals and a live final. Juries will no longer provide any feedback on the performances during the show, but they will still be the tiebreaker in the semi-finals. In the final however, there will 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 will perform a second time. According to the Lithuanian head of delegation, this is so that "the most deserving performer or author goes to the big competition". The first semi-final will be broadcast on 13/1, although it will still 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.

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 will take place on 27/1 to select the Luxembourgish entry for Eurovision 2024. For artists with their own song or (inter)national songwriters with a song, they were able to apply until 1/10. For singers who do not have their own song, they were able to apply until 16/7, the week after which they would be contacted by RTL, and production auditions took place on 21/7 and 22/7. After then, they may be paired up with the song from (inter)national songwriters. Whether the singer has a song or not, they had to prove that they either hold Luxembourgish citizenship, have lived in Luxembourg for at least 3 consecutive years, or can prove that they have "a cultural background and a proven link" with the music scene in Luxembourg. Specifically, if the singer has neither lived in Luxembourg for three years nor hold citizenship, they must be "actively involved on a national scale through their musical practice, and work regularly and closely with cultural institutions and recognized cultural players on the Luxembourgish scene". Submissions took place through the eurovision.lu website. Both the auditions and the national final will take place at the Rockhal in Esch-sur-Alzette, or Esch/Belval. One interested name is CHAiLD, a Luxembourgish artist who shared the national final announcement on his Instagram story with the caption "it's starting, let's do this". On 11/7, Dave Gloesener, head of Eurovision at RTL (and possibly head of delegation?), said in an interview that "the public will have their say" in deciding the Luxembourgish representative, that is to say the national final will have a televote. In addition, they plan to not only broadcast the national final on TV, but also online where there will be commentaries in three(!!) different languages. Finally, he said that the return of Luxembourg "is not a one-shot thing", and that they aim to "do very well ... next year, and to turn a new Eurovision page for Luxembourg". On 23/7, RTL posted a photo gallery of singers without original songs who had taken part in the first round of auditions in Rockhal. They were judged by a 5-member jury, which consisted of Jules Serrig, Jenny Fischbach, Sandra Bintz, Eric Lehmann and Sam Steen (for 21/7) and Dave Gloesener (for 22/7). According to RTL, there were about 100 singers at the auditions, which mostly sang ballads according to Gloesener. He also replied to several fans on Twitter saying that the name of the national final will be announced soon. One other interested artist is Naomi Ayé, a young Luxembourgish singer who came second in the French edition of "The Voice Kids" in 2020. Another interested Luxembourgish artist is Josh Island, who in an interview said that he had already submitted a song to the broadcaster. Josh Island had previously worked with The Black Mamba (Portugal 2021). Another interested artist is Edsun. On 30/9, CHAiLD officially submitted his entry, as revealed by him on Instagram. After submissions closed, RTL revealed that they had received 459 entries, or 1 entry per almost 1400 people in Luxembourg. According to another RTL article, it was revealed that 3 of those entries were from Ralph Siegel, German songwriter who had been very successful in the 20th century and penned several Luxembourgish entries. Other names as reported by RTL are Tom Gatti ft. Melvyn Schartz, Anselme Pau & Brigitte Libar ft. Laura Lorente, and Johan Jämtberg ft. Rafaela Teixeira Fernandes, Tom Schmitz ft. Armand Thies. On 3/11, MAZ UNIVERZE posted on Instagram that they have made it to the next round of the Luxembourgish selection. On 23/11, RTL revealed that Jan Bors, Christer Björkman, Tali Eshkoli, Cesar Sámpson and Alex Panayi would form the international jury, who would further judge the live auditions.

In mid-April, the Maltese broadcaster TRM announced a songwriting camp for MESC 2024. It took place between 12/6 and 15/6, with names such as Tom Hugo (from KEiiNO) and Greta Tude taking part. On 21/8, TRM announced new details for MESC 2024. There will no longer be quarter-finals. Song submissions will be open between 28/8 and 20/9, and semi-finalists will be announced in October. The artists will then interpret their song live "during a televised show spread out over a number of weeks", and the top 12 qualify for the final based on jury voting and televoting. The first show is expected in October or November. The final will take place in January 2024, where each finalist gets a grant of 5000 euros to film a music video. In a move away from the norm, the live final will not feature live performances. Instead, each artist will film three live-on-tapes in December 2023, and then the best one (along with the music video) is selected to be broadcast during the final. The winner is then selected via a combination of jury voting and televoting. Aidan, a fan favourite in MESC2022 and 2023, announced in a video that he will not participate in MESC "for a long time". On 18/11, TVM revealed the 36 semi-finalists for MESC 2024. This includes Ryan Hili (2023 runner-up), MATT BLXCK (MESC 2022, 3rd place 2023), and Eliana Gomez Blanco (Malta JESC2019). The first semi-final took place on 28/10, however the qualifiers will not be 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. These qualifiers will now compete in the final to be held in January.

On 22/11, TRM announced the return of the Moldovan national final Etapa Națională. Submissions will be open until 22/12. Live auditions will take place on 13/10, where 10 finalists will be selected. Those 10 finalists will then compete in the live national final on 17/2.

According to unofficial sources, some other names who have expressed interest in representing the Netherlands specifically for 2024 include The Jordan, Ziggy Krassenberg, De Bankzitters, Kris Kross Amsterdam, Stefania (Greece 2020-21), Zoe Tauran, April Darby, Kraantje Pappie & Bizzey, Joost Klein, Goldband, Douwe Bob (NL 2016), and Vinchenzo. On 12/7, AVROTROS announced that Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen has been appointed as the new Dutch Head of Delegation, as well as the chairman of the Dutch selection committee. Van de Nieuwenhuijzen had worked as the EBU Head of Contest between 2021 and 2023, and was one of the main persons responsible for setting the running order of the shows. He replaces Eric van Stade, who will now step down as the committee chairman. The committee will also be further expanded in the future. Despite prior rumours, they continued with an internal selection. Song submissions remained open until 30/9, and for the first time will not require a set artist for the song. Nonetheless, entries were shortlisted, and shortlisted songs will have to be performed live before a decision is made by December. On 22/8, it was announced that Jacqueline Govaert and Jaap Reesema will join the internal selection committee of AVROTROS. Other interested names include Leonie Meijer, The Jordan, Tim Douwsma, Numidia, and Louisa Janssen. In particular, Joost Klein has been heavily promoted in various places, such as on certain radio stations. On 30/9, Van de Nieuwenhuijzen said in an interview that almost 300 submissions have been received so far, and a decision on the Dutch representative will be made by mid-December. After submissions closed, AVROTROS revealed that they in fact received more than 600 entries, a record for the Netherlands. Cornald Maas, Dutch commentator and committee member, also noted that most of the entries were in English, but almost a hundred of them were in Dutch, and some entries also included lyrics in French, Arabic, Turkish, Spanish and Italian. On 15/11, Dutch media reported that the list of candidates had been whittled down to 10, as some singers had already begun receiving news of non-selection.

As mentioned earlier, MRT from North Macedonia has put Eurovision 2024 participation in their budget for 2024, however there is yet to be a formal confirmation from MRT, and they were still able to withdraw before 13/10 without any financial penalties. In various meetings throughout October, MRT officials expressed positivity at North Macedonia returning to the contest, and discussed selecting a representative. There were also suggestions of bringing back Skopje Fest, however others in the meeting suggested that it would be too late to do so. Nonetheless, an official statement from MRT confirming 2024 participation is yet to be published.

Norway is returning to their longstanding national final Melodi Grand Prix. The songwriting camp for MGP started in early April in Oslo. Submissions for the national final started on 9/6, and in a change from previous years where songs would be released on the week of each show, any Norwegian songs released on or after 1/9 can be submitted to the national final. NRK hopes that this will lead fans to "put pressure" on artists and MGP editors to pick certain songs for the contest. Regardless, as usual, the MGP lineup will be released in January. The submissions closed on 31/8. On 10/7, the Norwegian Head of Delegation Stig Karlsen was interviewed by Eurovision Norway, and he revealed that some artists are already in talks for MGP 2024. Various familiar Norwegian names have been seen with renowned Nordic songwriters: KEiiNO posted on 12/8 about writing a song with Dino Medanhodzic in Stockholm, while a day later it was revealed that Raylee has been writing a song with Laurell Barker, who also co-wrote "Wild" and "Hero", her previous MGP entries. On 21/10, it was revealed that the national final will take place on 13/1, 20/1 and 27/1 for the semi-finals, and 3/2 for the final. Each semi-final will see 6 candidates compete to get into the 3 spots for the final. In addition, dancer Mona Berntsen has been hired as the new stage director for MGP, replacing Mattias Carlsson who had held the post since 2008. On 7/11, head of delegation Stig Karlsen revealed that MGP will have a jury in the final, the weighting will be 60% televote, 40% jury. Among the entries, there will be big artists and new stars, broad genres and a good show. Karlsen also claimed as usual that they have songs that can compete to win Eurovision. On 30/11, it was revealed that the hosts for MGP will be Fredrik Solvang and Marion Ravn. The contestants will be revealed on 5/1.

Over the past few months, there have been rumours of TVP internally selecting singers for Poland in Eurovision 2024 - first with Kuba Szmajkowski, then with Dominik Dudek. However, 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". On 14/11, it was reported that Leon Myszkowski, Justyna's oldest son, was working with Markus Riva from Latvia to write an entry for the Latvian national final, therefore Justyna could theoretically compete against her own son in Eurovision. 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. Other interested names include Natasza Urbańska, Marcin Maciejczak, Anna Jurksztowicz, and Edyta Górniak (Poland 1994).

Portugal are known to have not taken part in many contests that were hosted by Sweden, most recently when they missed out on both 2013 and 2016. However, it was announced on 7/8 that Portugal will indeed be in Malmo next year. The national final Festival Da Cancao 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.

It is not yet known whether Romania will take part in Eurovision 2024, with TVR indicating to Eurovoix that "the matter is being discussed", however Ovi Jacobsen (Romania 2010, 2014) posted on social media that he is working on a new song in the studio, prompting return rumours. On 26/10, a user posted an image in the Romanian Eurovision Community page on Facebook, indicating that the Romanian government has approved the budget for TVR for 2024, including participation in Eurovision 2024. Official confirmation from TVR is pending.

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 will 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 will close on 10/1. Academy and casting sessions will start on 10/11, with the last one taking place on 20/1, upon which 80 or more semi-finalists will be selected. The semi-finals will take place on 16/2 and 17/2, where contestants must sing their intended Eurovision 2024 song either partially or fully live. As per previous years, the jury will be composed of 5 members, which will decide the winner of the national final. On 5/11, SMRTV revealed that 270 entries had been received so far, with entries coming from even countries like Mauritania. On 29/11, the date of the final was changed from 2/3 to 24/2.

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. Submissions for Pesma Za Evroviziju were opened on 26/7, and will close on 1/11. The submission deadline was later extended to 10/11. Rumoured names include Zorja, Filip Baloš, and Breskvica, MC Stojan, Maja Nikolić, Marko Mandić, M.IRA, Titta Foureira, and Nadia.

One interested artist for Slovenia is July Jones, who took part in EMA 2022 with the song "Girls Can Do Anything", and had apparently also prepared a proposal for 2023 before Joker Out had been internally selected. July Jones already responded on Instagram on 17/7 that she is ready to apply to EMA 2024. Raiven (EMA 2016, 17, 19) also posted around the same time that she was writing a new album in London. On 17/10, RTVSLO announced that they were launching a new national final named "Misija Malmö", which will consist at most of 4 entries, and submissions will close on 15/11. The entries will be announced on 11/12, and the national final itself will take place in January. Submissions closed on 15/11.

Spain is returning to their national final Benidorm Fest. However, in a departure from the previous two editions, RTVE have invited artists to enter a casting phase for the national final. Furthermore, several Spanish fans have complained that winning Benidorm Fest and representing Spain in Eurovision 2024 will now entail a lot more promotion for RTVE, with the artist having to appear at numerous RTVE events to sing. Eva Mora, the assistant head of delegation who was brought on after 2021, was also dismissed of her role, with Ana Maria Bordas (who had been the head of delegation from 2017-2021) returning to the delegation. This dismissal was understood to be Eva's disagreements with Maria Eizaguirre, another influential figure in RTVE and the Spanish delegation. On 26/7, a press conference took place presenting the 2024 edition of Benidorm Fest. The two semi-finals will take place on 30/1 and 1/2, while the final will be on 3/2. The 16 competing artists will be revealed during the same week as the Latin Grammy Awards on 11/11, which will be broadcast live by RTVE. In addition, it was also announced that there will be a songwriting camp in September, which seeks to bring together "international composers" to develop potential songs for the festival. It was however noted that songs from this camp will not have priority entry into Benidorm Fest. RTVE will also internally contact established artists and invite them to apply to enter the festival. Submissions were opened, and closed on 11/10. Some of the artists who have submitted or were interested in submitting songs for Benidorm Fest include Megara, New Fantasy, Noelia Franco, Kai Nakai, GOMZ, María de Juan, Trovadorum, Colet, Celia Becks, Julia Medina, Tatiana Delalvz, Kler, K!ngdom, Bombai, Jesus Martí, Javy Ramirez, Salva Ortega, Jorge Gonzalez, Angy Fernandez, Lucía Gil, Vincente Navarro, Deteresa, Borja Escalona, Hugo Cobo, Ani Queen, Vincente Navarro, Irene Caruncho, Adriana Moraru, Brunne Romeo, Marina Galán, hydn, Bombai, Girl's Gang, Mario Jefferson, J Kbello, and several others. After submissions closed, it was revealed that 825 songs were received, a record number of songs, all of which (unlike previous years where there were more songs) already had a singer. On 12/11, the 16 artists taking part in the national final were revealed. Despite rumours, Megara were not selected to return, however the list also featured artists such as Almacor, Angy, Maria Pelae, Nebulossa (who had previously competed in San Marino's national final), and Sofia Coll. It was later revealed that Angy's song had been co-written with Swedish Eurovision songwriter Thomas G:Son. On 29/11, it was reported that the live shows will be produced by Boomerang TV, and that they are considering having actors from TV series 'La Promesa' presenting the national final.

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. There will thus not be any second chance round, or Andra Chansen as it was previously known. This gives 12 finalists, the same as previous years. Submissions opened on 25/8 and closed on 15/9. Afterwards, it was revealed that 2624 songs were submitted, down 200 from last year but up 100 from 2022. 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. As of 30/11, the rumoured names reported by Aftonbladet include: Lasse Stefanz, Smash Into Pieces, Dotter, LIAMOO, Samir & Viktor, Elecktra, Cazzi Opeia, Lisa Ajax, Marcus & Martinus, Clara Klingenström, Adam Woods, Jay Smith, Scarlet, Albin Tingwall, Jacqline Moss, Dear Sara, Chelsea Muco, Danny Saucedo, Elisa Lindstrom, and C-Joe. On 22/11, Aftonbladet reported that Carina Berg and Björn Gustafsson will be hosting Melodifestivalen 2024, the latter having performed in Melodifestivalen 2008 with a love song to the former, who at the time had been married to the then-host of the festival.

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". Submissions opened on 10/8 and closed on 24/8.

According to Ukrainian rumours, UA:PBC may be looking into changing the rules of Vidbir, the national final. Such rule and format changes would involve unbanning certain artists from competing in the national final. One example is The Hardkiss, who narrowly came second behind Jamala in 2016, and whose lead vocalist Julia Sanina went on to co-host Eurovision 2023. There are rumours that The Hardkiss are once again interested in taking part in Vidbir, however at the moment they (and ironically also Jamala) are barred from re-entering the selection as they had performed in Russia after 2014. Rumours are that UA:PBC are looking to change this rule, not just for The Hardkiss but also for artists such as Alina Pash and Max Barskih. On 28/7, Ukraine officially confirmed ESC2024 participation. One interested name is Melovin, who says in an interview with Timur Miroshnychenko that he is considering submitting a song to the national final, and he already has this song written. Some other interested names include Christina Soloviy, Jerry Heil, and Zelenooka. Rumours claim that YakTak, Kazka and Roxolana may also join the future lineup. Despite previous rumours, the semi-finals will not return for 2024 due to financial issues, however the public can vote to pick one finalist. On 28/8, UA:PBC announced that Pianoboy will return as the Vidbir musical director. In addition to this role for 2023, Pianoboy was also responsible for composing the postcard music for Eurovision 2023. One more interested name is Ihor Didenchuk, who had already taken part in Eurovision twice, first as part of Go_A, and then as part of Kalush Orchestra. He now hints at a possible return with a *third* band, named Zgarda. On 30/8, UA:PBC opened submissions for Vidbir 2024 which closed on 22/10. The final will take place in February, and there will be at least 20 artists on the longlist. A maximum of 10 finalists will be selected by 20/11. In addition, an additional finalist will be determined via online vote, and the full list of finalists will be published by 29/12. Some names who have confirmed or hinted at participation include Tumazar, Melovin, Kazka, Zelenooka and Tucha. After submissions closed, UA:PBC revealed that they had received 389 submissions from 288 performers, 222 of which were soloists. The 20-long longlist will be published by 9/11. Vidbir producer Pianoboy (real name Dmytro Shurov) also said that among the submissions were "4 smashing hits, 10 potential hits, and a few interesting comebacks". 58% of the songs were in Ukrainian, 33% were in English, 9% were bilingual, and less than 1% in other languages. On 9/11, the 20-long longlist 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.

The British selection process this year will not involve TaP Music, but this is because they never had a contract with the BBC rather than the poor result attained by Mae Muller. On 1/8, TaP Music officially announced on Twitter that they were "handing back the baton" to the BBC, although this had unofficially been known for several months. On 2/8, it was revealed on the Euro Trip Podcast that Rina Sawayama had indeed been approached by the BBC for Eurovision, but Mae Muller had already been selected by the time Rina responded. There are thus calls from fans for Rina to be selected for 2024, but nothing is known yet. On 24/8, the head of BBC entertainment announced that unlike previous years (pre-2023), the semi-finals will continue to be broadcast on BBC 1, as opposed to BBC 3 or 4. Furthermore, they will continue to use an internal selection for the British entry, saying that they will continue going to "specialists in the industry" to help with picking their act. On 18/10, the BBC posted in an article that Eurovision will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, and also noted that "the search for the 2024 act and song for the United Kingdom has taken place over the summer", hinting that the act may have already been selected. On 26/11, British tabloid The Sun reported that Olly Alexander, lead singer of Years & Years, 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.

So that's all I know about Eurovision 2024 so far! Do let me know if you find more information that I may have missed. Here's the video for the month:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTaB4GZzVpI