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

Happy Eurovision New Year! Let's take a look at what we know about the contest in Sweden, 8 months out.

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.

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.

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 Junior Eurovision 2023 in Nice, or the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo.

Despite earlier rumours of an Andra Chansen for Eurovision, this was laughed off and dismissed by Björkman and Blankens, who said that it is not what they are aiming for.

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...

Directors: 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.

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: released before Christmas?

As reported by Skånska Dagbladet.According to Karin Karlsson, they also plan to sell more tickets than 83000, which was what they had sold in 2013.

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.

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

Some of the tickets are already on sale at the official website bcneurovision.com, and go for 35 euros and up.

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

Non-participating Countries (so far): Andorra?, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Monaco, 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.

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. No reasoning was provided.

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

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. This highly suggests a return to Eurovision in 2024 for North Macedonia, although MRT has yet to make a formal announcement, instead posting about their Junior Eurovision participation.

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, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, 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

Countries with asterisks are implicitly understood to be taking part despite a lack of public statements. France, Georgia, have confirmed participation but not provided any further information. The deadline for participation confirmation was 15/9, although countries can withdraw without any cost until 13/10.

RTSH confirmed participation in Eurovision 2024, and posted a new trailer for Festivali I Këngës 62. One possible name is Luiz Ejlli, who represented Albania in 2006 and has since gone on to become very popular in Albania. On 5/9, Klodian Qafoku, his 2006 songwriter, posted a selfie with Luiz on his Instagram story with the caption "Eurovison (sic)... coming soon" with a laugh-crying emoji. Submissions close on 10/10.

Austria are returning to an internal selection. This was confirmed to Kleine Zeitung by ORF program director Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz. Groiss-Horowitz also stated that due to a talent show being broadcasted in spring of 2024, a national final was "not an option for ORF". Currently, they are "in the process of setting up the mode for our internal selection of experts". It was also reported that Peter Schreiber has joined ORF as a "Eurovision scout", in addition to Eberhard Forcher and Lukas Hildebrand. One other 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. Despite activity in late July suggesting that Conchita Wurst was interested in returning to the contest, she was later quoted by Kleine Zeitung as saying "now someone else can win for Austria again". On 1/9, Eberhard Forcher posted that submissions will close on 30/9, and 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 14/7, Ictimai TV, the Azerbaijani broadcaster, opened song submissions for Eurovision 2024. The submissions will close on 30/9. It was later reported that Eldar Gasimov appeared at the ITV studios and gave some information about song submissions and preparations for Eurovision 2024, and the program will be aired soon. One name that has submitted a song is MARI.

RTBF, the French-speaking Belgian broadcaster, confirmed participation in Eurovision 2024 on 16/8. Despite some fans speculating that RTBF would select Alec Golard, the most recent winner of The Voice Belgique, as the Belgian representative, they surprised everyone by announcing 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.

Previously, CyBC had planned to use the reality TV show "Fame Story" as the national final, however after they were sued by ERT and the EBU requested a change in selection method, the idea was dropped. Thus, CyBC has now announced that the singer will be selected internally, and that there will be a national final for the artist's song in January, taking place in Cyprus proper. On 25/8, Eurovisionfun reported that CyBC have in fact already made a selection, and will be the first country to announce their artist, doing so in a few days. Although a reporter from Eurovisionfun wrote in a Facebook post that unlike previous years, CyBC are not even working with Panik Records for selecting the Cypriot entry. 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. There will *not* be a national final to determine the song; instead, 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.

Czechia have yet to confirm Eurovision 2024 participation. According to Head of Press Ahmad Halloun, the decision will be made in August or September.

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 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. Karmel Killandi, the chief editor of entertainment programs, said that they "want to face autumn with innovations and summer is the best time to analyze the finished season and also earlier years". In addition, the detailed plans will be revealed in a few months according to Killandi. 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.

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. Around the period of UMK 2023, there were also reports that Yle are planning to move the national final away from Logomo in Turku, which hosted the last 2 editions. The plan is to move to a place where they can sell "four or even six times more tickets".

It was reported some days after the grand final of 2023 that ARD, the German broadcaster, will continue to participate in Eurovision for Germany. It should be noted that longtime German commentator, Peter Urban, has stepped down with 2023 being his last year of Eurovision commentating. His successor will be announced in due course. Some fans have speculated that it could be Konsi, who is currently the resident German JESC commentator, and also travelled to Liverpool alongside the eurovision.de team. On 7/9, NDR opened song submissions for the national final "Eurovision Song Contest, Das Deutsche Finale 2024", and the submissions will close on 5/10. 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". Previously in the 21st century, he penned the Sammarinese entries from 2012-2015 and 2017. 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.

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.

Some days after the grand final, it was claimed by Greek media outlets that ERT will return to a national final for Eurovision 2024. This has neither been confirmed nor denied by ERT thus far. However, Eleni Foureira (Cyprus 2018) has now said that she is interested in returning to Eurovision, but to represent her home country Greece. On 19/6, Eleni alongside Helena Paparizou performed a medley of "Fuego" and "My Number One" at the Greek award show MAD VMAs. A few days later, Silia Kapsis, an Australian singer of Greek origin, posted an Instagram story of her in the studio with Dimitris Kontopoulos, a member of the "Dream Team" which had been responsible for several Greek (and Russian) Eurovision entries in the past. Whether this amounts to anything relating to Eurovision is not yet known. Cypriot-Greek-English singer Antigoni released a song named "Nervous" on 11/7. This was one of two songs she had submitted to ERT for 2023 which she had co-written with Connor Mullaly and Amira El-Shafie, and she will try again with the other song for 2024. It was later reported that by September, there may be a "complete restructuring" of the Eurovision delegation after the disappointing result in 2023. As of late August, more and more Greek media outlets have been reporting the possibility of a Greek national final, such as TO PARON. This would explain ERT's adversity towards Cyprus hosting a national final on their soil. On 19/9, fan favourite and Greek-American artist Evangelia posted that she is currently recording her proposal for Eurovision 2024. She had previously submitted songs for 2023, such as "Onira" and "Pali".

On 15/6, the submissions for Icelandic national final Söngvakeppnin were opened, and they will close on 10/9. The participating songs will be revealed in January, and the shows will take place in February and March. As usual, all songs must have an Icelandic version which must be performed in the semi-final, but in the final an English version can be sung if such a version has been prepared.

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.

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. One name that is interested in doing Eurovision for Israel is Anna Zak, although she did not mention the national final. The first auditions will take 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 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, it was announced that the final of Sanremo Giovani will take place on 20/12. Amadeus also announced that Sanremo proper 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 close on 27/11, and the 23 "big" contestants will be announced between 1/12 and 20/12. 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.

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 26/6, it was found that a new Eurovision website for Luxembourg, eurovision.lu, had been set up. Xavier Bettel, the Luxembourgish prime minister, said on 28/6 that should Luxembourg win, they are ready to host the 2025 edition of the contest, because it would have a positive impact on the local hotel industry and promote tourism. After a live countdown on the Eurovision Luxembourg website ended at 10:00 CEST on 3/7, RTL revealed that a national final will take place on the 27th of January 2024 to select the Luxembourgish entry for Eurovision 2024. For artists with their own song or (inter)national songwriters with a song, they may apply until the 1st of October. For singers who do not have their own song, they can apply until 16/7, the week after which they will be contacted by RTL, and production auditions will take place either on 21/7 or 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 must prove that they either hold Luxembourgish citizenship, have lived in Luxembourg for at least three 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 take 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).

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".

In another rare act, Moldova has confirmed Eurovision 2024 participation in Sweden. Daria Capatina, who is also the head of children's content at TRM, has confirmed to ESCPlus that Moldova will be present in Sweden next year. Although Capatina also said that Moldova will not be in Nice for Junior Eurovision 2023. Regardless, past behaviour from Moldova was that TRM would not say a word regarding Eurovision until the participant list is released, after which they start planning the national final and the like. Fans are thus speculating that Moldova may be preparing early this year.

Some people have been calling for a national final to be reinstated, following the last national final being the Nationaal Songfestival back in 2012. Mia Nicolai suggested in a tweet on 24/5 that she may be interested in doing Eurovision again next year. 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. In addition, AVROTROS has now opened song submissions for 2024. Despite prior rumours, they will continue with an internal selection. Song submissions are open until 30/9, and for the first time will not require a set artist for the song. Nonetheless, entries will be 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 Numidia, Louisa Janssen. In particular, Joost Klein has been heavily promoted in various places, such as on certain radio stations.

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 are still able to withdraw before 13/10 without any financial penalties.

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 will close 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.

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", however she does not know whether she will enter this year, having booked almost 50 concerts.

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 closing 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).

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 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. In addition, a press conference revealed that they are considering allowing people to take part in the casting stage *online* if they cannot make it to San Marino.

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. One interested name is Zorja, who was a fan favourite in PZE22 and placed third in the final. Submissions for Pesma Za Evroviziju were opened on 26/7, and will close on 1/11.

Although no official announcement has been made yet, it seems very likely that Slovenia will continue to participate in Eurovision next year. One interested artist 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. The selection method for 2024 is unknown, but July Jones has 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. Recently, it has been rumoured that more news regarding Slovenian participation in Eurovision 2024 will be announced on the show "Popevka" which started broadcasting starting 9/9. Some fans speculate that RTVSLO may in fact announce Raiven as the 2024 representative, as she is one of the hosts of Popevka. On 19/9, RTVSLO responded to a request from Zurnal24.si, saying that the method of selecting the Slovenian representative for 2024 will be revealed in October.

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 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 will close at midnight of 11/10. Some of the artists who have submitted or are 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, and several others.

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.

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 will close 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 will close 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.

It was reported shortly after Eurovision 2023 that the BBC had been "eyeing up" Sophie Ellis-Bextor to represent the UK in Eurovision 2024. However, this was later denied by Ellis-Bextor herself. Regardless, the 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 10/9, it was reported by Attitude (via Yahoo News) that according to Scott Mills (BBC Eurovision commentator), "meetings are already underway" which he "might be in" to find the next UK Eurovision act. Mills said that he thinks the UK should send someone that is new, loves the contest and is up for it, rather than a nostalgia act or novelty act.

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 a video that I recorded a few days after the participation interest deadline:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj1a77ghz5I