Eurovision Song Contest 2022

{{Location map many|Italy Turin|width=200|float=left|caption=Location of host venue (red) and other contest-related sites and events (blue) The 2022 contest took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the 2021 edition with the song "", performed by Måneskin. It was the third time that Italy had hosted the contest, having previously done so for the and contests, held in Naples and Rome respectively. The selected venue was the 13,300-seat , a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Santa Rita district, which serves as a venue for events including concerts, exhibitions, trade fairs, conferences, and sports (mainly those requiring an ice rink, such as ice hockey and curling). had previously hosted the ice hockey events at the 2006 Winter Olympics, and the opening ceremonies of the 2007 Winter Universiade and will host the same event in 2025. The venue was at full capacity for the contest, after the previous edition in Rotterdam saw a limited audience of 3,500 people as a precaution against the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the audience in Turin was required to wear masks at all times inside the venue, unlike in Rotterdam where mask-wearing was not enforced whenever the audience was seated. Nearly all COVID-19 prevention measures for the contest were dropped by 11 May 2022, the day before the second semi-final, with testing only required whenever symptoms were exhibited. In addition to the main venue, the host city also organised side events in tandem with the contest. The Eurovision Village was the official Eurovision Song Contest fan and sponsors area during the event weeks, where it was possible to watch performances by contest participants and local artists, as well as the live shows broadcast from the main venue. It was located at and open from 7 to 14 May 2022. The EuroClub, which took place across ten different locations in Turin, hosted the official after-parties and private performances by contest participants. Unlike in previous years, access to the EuroClub was not restricted to accredited fans, delegates and press. The "Turquoise Carpet" and Opening Ceremony events, where the contestants and their delegations were presented before the accredited press and fans, took place at the Palace of Venaria on 8 May 2022. Bidding phase Between 23 and 28 May 2021, many cities across Italy expressed interest in hosting the contest. Representatives from the cities of Bologna, Milan, Pesaro, Naples and Turin voiced their interest, as well as the Mayor of Reggio Emilia, Luca Vecchi, who hoped to host the contest in the new , the largest open-air arena in Europe with a capacity of 100,000 spectators. The mayors of Rome, Rimini and Florence soon after also expressed interest in hosting the contest , member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, also suggested that if Rimini were to host the contest, it should be a co-production with San Marino RTV. Host broadcaster RAI launched the bidding process on 7 July 2021. In the first phase of this process, any interested cities were to present their bid through certified email by 12 July, after which RAI and the EBU would proceed to send all of them a bid book with more detailed requirements for the cities to submit their plans for review. On 9 July 2021, the city of Turin officially announced its bid. On the same day, the city of Pesaro did the same, proposing the Vitrifrigo Arena as a possible venue to host the event. They were followed by Bologna and Jesolo on 12 July, On 13 July, RAI announced that 17 cities had submitted their bid for hosting the contest and would be provided the following day with the bid books. They had until 4 August to draft and submit their detailed plans, which 11 cities did. On 24 August, it was reported that Bologna, Milan, Pesaro, Rimini and Turin would be the cities left in the running to host the contest. The choice among them was meant to be announced by the end of August; however, this did not materialise, and in mid-September , director of Rai 1, stated that the selection was behind time to ensure "transparency and precision". On 8 October 2021, the EBU and RAI announced Turin as the host city, with the as the chosen venue for the contest. Key: Host venue Shortlisted Presented the bid book == Participants ==

Eligibility for potential participation in the Eurovision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active EBU membership capable of receiving the contest via the Eurovision network and broadcasting it live nationwide. The EBU issued an invitation to participate in the contest to all active members. Associate member did not need an invitation for the 2022 contest, as it had previously been granted permission to participate at least until 2023. On 20 October 2021, the EBU initially announced that 41 countries would participate in the 2022 contest. The list included all countries that participated in the 2021 contest, along with and , both of which had last taken part in (Armenia was also set to compete in the cancelled edition). Returning artists The contest featured five representatives who also previously performed as lead artists for the same country. Nika Kocharov, the guitarist of Circus Mircus, had previously represented alongside Young Georgian Lolitaz; Stoyan Yankoulov, a member of Intelligent Music Project, had represented and alongside Elitsa Todorova; Zdob și Zdub had represented and ; Mahmood had represented ; and Ihor Didenchuk, a member of Kalush Orchestra, had previously represented as a member of Go_A. In addition, Ihan Haydar, who had previously represented as a member of Soluna Samay's backup band, returned as a member of Reddi. Other countries Active EBU members Active EBU member broadcasters in , , , and confirmed non-participation prior to the announcement of the participants list by the EBU. national broadcaster TRT had been in talks with the EBU about a potential return to the contest in 2022, but the country ultimately did not appear on the final list of participants. losing the rights to broadcast and participate in any Eurovision event until 1 July 2024. Conversely, initially appeared on the list of participants; however, following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and subsequent protests from other participating countries, the EBU decided to exclude the country from the contest; which was finalised on 26 May 2022 and resulted in Russia indefinitely losing broadcasting and participation rights for future Eurovision events. Liechtensteiner broadcaster 1FLTV, despite previous attempts to become an EBU member, halted its plans after director Peter Kölbel's unexpected death, and did not resume them due to the lack of sufficient funds and of government support. == Production ==

The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was produced by the Italian public broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI). and Simona Martorelli served as executive producers, and served as directors of the three live shows, Claudio Santucci served as head of show, and Emanuele Cristofoli served as artistic director for the opening and interval acts. Background music for the shows was composed by . The Italian government allocated around as part of the budget needed to host the event, while the municipality of Turin and the regional government of Piedmont contributed around in total. The preliminary total budget for the shows was . The full costs was not officially published, but is estimated to be at approximately . Visual design The theme art and slogan for the contest, "The Sound of Beauty", was unveiled on 21 January 2022. Designed by Rome-based studio Flopicco, the artwork was built around the symmetrical structure and patterns of cymatics to convey the visual properties of sound, which also reflects Italian garden design, while the typography, Arsenica, was inspired by early-20th century Italian poster art; the colours were drawn from those of the Italian flag. Stage design The stage design for the 2022 contest was revealed on 18 February 2022. Designed by Rome-based stage designer and dubbed "The Sun Within", the stage design was based around the movements and light of a kinetic sun, with the intended ability to showcase theatrical motion. The design also featured a working water cascade and a green room modelled after an Italian garden. Montinaro had previous experience in stage design, having done so for the Sanremo Music Festival in 2013 and 2019. This marked the first time since that German stage designer Florian Wieder did not design the Eurovision stage. Postcards The "postcards" were 40-second video introductions shown on television whilst the stage is being prepared for the next contestant to perform their entry. Filmed between February and April, and directed by Matteo Lanzi, each postcard for 2022 showcased a different locale in Italy adorned by pictures and various artistic elements related to the acts, while the participating artists themselves appeared via footage superimposed through chroma keying, guided by a drone named "Leo". The following locations were used for each participating country: • Su Nuraxi, Barumini, Sardinia • Marmore Falls, Terni, Umbria • MART, Rovereto, Trentino-South Tyrol • Miramare Castle, Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia • Villa Monastero, Varenna, Lombardy • Perugia, Umbria • Castel del Monte, Andria, Apulia • Grinzane Cavour, Cuneo, Piedmont • Matterhorn, Aosta Valley • Caserta, Campania • Procida, Naples, Campania • Sacra di San Michele, Sant'Ambrogio di Torino, Piedmont • Laghi di Fusine, Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia • Cavour, Piedmont • Burano, Venice, Veneto • Lingotto, Turin, Piedmont • Selinunte, Trapani, Sicily • Cortina d'Ampezzo, Belluno, Veneto • Matera, Basilicata • Manarola, Cinque Terre, Liguria • Mole Antonelliana, Turin, Piedmont • Merano, Trentino-South Tyrol • Bergamo, Lombardy • Abbey of San Galgano, Siena, Tuscany • Urbino, Marche • Monte Conero, Ancona, Marche • Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna • , Nuoro, Sardinia • Lago di Scanno, L'Aquila, Abruzzo • Scala dei Turchi, Agrigento, Sicily • Genoa, Liguria • Isola di Capo Rizzuto, Crotone, Calabria • Rome, Lazio • Castle of Rocca Calascio, L'Aquila, Abruzzo • Civita di Bagnoregio, Viterbo, Lazio • Alagna Valsesia, Vercelli, Piedmont • Rimini, Emilia-Romagna • Termoli, Campobasso, Molise • Florence, Tuscany • Orta San Giulio, Novara, Piedmont Presenters Television presenter Alessandro Cattelan and singers Laura Pausini and Mika were the presenters of the 2022 contest. They had already been named as likely hosts by Italian news agency Adnkronos and TV magazine TV Sorrisi e Canzoni; and were officially confirmed during the second night of the Sanremo Music Festival 2022 on 2 February, after appearing on that show as special guests. The "Turquoise Carpet" and Opening Ceremony events were hosted by Gabriele Corsi, Carolina Di Domenico, and . Acampa, Carusino and Di Domenico also moderated the contest's press conferences. == Format ==

Entries For the second year in a row, delegations had the option to use pre-recorded backing vocals, though each delegation could still use backing singerswhether on or off stageor a combination of live and recorded backing vocals. However, all lead vocals performing the melody of the song must still be live. The EBU also required all national broadcasters to create a 'live-on-tape' backup recording prior to the contest which could be used if a participant was unable to travel to Turin, or subjected to quarantine on arrival. The 2022 contest also saw a tightening of the rules around song eligibility. Previously, the rules stated that the competing songs must not have been commercially released prior to 1 September of the previous year, now, a song may be ineligible to compete if it has been released to the public in any way, including live performances, before 1 September of the previous year. Enforcement of the rule was subject to the responsibility of the participating broadcasters. With all participating artists having performed live in Turin, the majority of the 'live-on-tape' performances were released on the contest's official YouTube channel over a period of ten days, from 14 to 23 June 2022. , , , the , , , , the , , , and the opted not to release their performances, while was exempted from the obligation to record its own, and and removed theirs after release for unknown reasons. Despite not releasing its performance to the contest's official channel, it was nonetheless made available on the channel of the country's representative Vladana. The 2022 contest was the first edition to not feature any competing song with lyrics in French. Semi-final allocation draw The draw to determine the participating countries' semi-finals took place on 25 January 2022 at 12:00 CET, at . The thirty-six semi-finalists were divided over six pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the contest's official televoting partner Digame. The purpose of drawing from different pots was to reduce the chance of "bloc voting" and to increase suspense in the semi-finals. The draw also determined which semi-final each of the five automatic qualifiers"Big Five" countries , , , and the would broadcast and vote in. The ceremony was hosted by Carolina Di Domenico and Mario Acampa, with Acampa replacing Gabriele Corsi who tested positive for COVID-19. It included the passing of the host city insignia from Ahmed Aboutaleb, then-mayor of previous host city Rotterdam, to Stefano Lo Russo, the mayor of Turin. == Contest overview ==

Semi-final 1 The first semi-final took place on 10 May 2022 at 21:00 (CEST). Ukraine won the most points, followed by the Netherlands, Greece, Portugal, Armenia, Norway, Lithuania, Moldova, Switzerland, and Iceland. The countries that failed to reach the final were Croatia, Albania, Denmark, Latvia, Austria, Bulgaria, and Slovenia. All the countries competing in this semi-final were eligible to vote, plus and . was originally allocated to participate in the second half of this semi-final, but was excluded from the contest due to its invasion of Ukraine. while the interval featured a medley of "Horizon in Your Eyes", "Satisfaction" and "" performed by Dardust, Benny Benassi, and Sophie and the Giants with conductor Sylvia Catasta, a brief homage to Raffaella Carrà by the contest presenters, and Diodato performing "", his intended entry for . The French and Italian artists were then interviewed, and clips of their competing songs were played. Semi-final 2 performed as an interval act in the second semi-final. The second semi-final took place on 12 May 2022 at 21:00 (CEST). while the interval featured a medley of "Fragile" and "People Have the Power" performed by co-presenters Laura Pausini and Mika, and Il Volo performing a new version of "", their entry for . The British, German, and Spanish artists were then interviewed, and clips of their competing songs were played. Final The final took place on 14 May 2022 at 21:00 (CEST). Ukraine won with 631 points, also winning the televote. The United Kingdom came second with 466 points and won the jury vote, with Spain, Sweden, Serbia, Italy, Moldova, Greece, Portugal, and Norway completing the top ten. Finland, the Czech Republic, Iceland, France, and Germany occupied the bottom five positions. The interval acts included winners Måneskin performing their new single "Supermodel" and a cover of "If I Can Dream", and co-presenter Mika performing a medley of his songs "Love Today", "Grace Kelly", new single "Yo Yo", and "Happy Ending". Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti appeared in a pre-recorded message from the International Space Station. Spokespersons The spokespersons announced the 12-point score from their respective country's national jury in the following order: • Jeangu Macrooy • Labiuse • Jana Burčeska • Aidan • Kateryna Pavlenko • Andri Xhahu • Tanel Padar • None • Pedro Tatanka • Barbara Schöneberger • • Tix • • Ida Nowakowska • Stefania • Elena Băncilă • Janan Dural • Dragana Kosjerina • Árný Fjóla Ásmundsdóttir • Loukas Hamatsos • Samanta Tīna • Nieves Álvarez • Julie Berthollet • Tina Müller • Élodie Gossuin • Garik Papoyan • • None • Linda Martin • Lorella Flego • None • Ivan Dorian Molnar • • Philipp Hansa • Aksel • AJ Odudu • Dotter • Courtney Act • Taťána Kuchařová • Carolina Di Domenico == Detailed voting results ==

Semi-final 1 The ten qualifiers from the first semi-final were determined by televoting and/or SMS-voting (50%) and five-member juries (50%). All seventeen countries competing in the first semi-final voted, alongside France and Italy. Serbia received the maximum score from five countries, Moldova were awarded two sets of 12 points, and Estonia, Greece, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom were each awarded one set of 12 points. == Broadcasts ==

All participating broadcasters may choose to have on-site or remote commentators providing an insight about the show and voting information to their local audience. While they must broadcast at least the semi-final they are voting in and the final, most broadcasters air all three shows with different programming plans. Similarly, some non-participating broadcasters may still want to air the contest. The European Broadcasting Union provided international live streams of both semi-finals and the final through their official YouTube channel with no commentary, and through their official TikTok channel with an additional backstage feed. The YouTube live streams were geo-blocked to viewers in the Czech Republic, Greece, United Kingdom and the United States. After the live broadcasts, all three shows were made available for every country listed above except the United States. For the first time in the contest's history, RAI trialled the broadcasts of the event in 4K UHD. The contest was aired on as an upscaled version of the HD feed, as RAI had yet to be fully equipped for broadcast of native 4K content.