Eurovision Song Contest 2025

, Basel – host venue of the 2025 contest|left [{ "type":"Feature", "geometry":{"type":"Point","coordinates":[7.618611, 47.539722]}, "properties":{"title":"St. Jakobshalle","marker-symbol":"stadium","marker-color":"#f00","marker-size":"large"} },{ "type":"ExternalData", "service":"geoshape","ids":"Q2318930", "properties":{"title":"St. Jakobshalle","fill":"#f00","stroke":"#f00"} },{ "type":"Feature", "geometry":{"type":"Point","coordinates":[7.620278, 47.541667]}, "properties":{"title":"Arena Plus at St. Jakob-Park","marker-symbol":"camera","marker-color":"#f00","marker-size":"large"} },{ "type":"ExternalData", "service":"geoshape","ids":"Q190010", "properties":{"title":"St. Jakob-Park","fill":"#f00","stroke":"#f00"} },{ "type":"Feature", "geometry":{"type":"Point","coordinates":[7.5991, 47.5625]}, "properties":{"title":"Eurovision Village, EuroClub, and ceremonies","marker-symbol":"village","marker-color":"#00f"} },{ "type":"Feature", "geometry":{"type":"Point","coordinates":[7.588333, 47.558333]}, "properties":{"title":"Turquoise Carpet at Basel Town Hall","marker-symbol":"town-hall","marker-color":"#00f"} }] The 2025 contest took place in Basel, Switzerland, following the country's victory at the with the song "The Code", performed by Nemo. It was the third time that Switzerland had hosted the contest, having previously done so for the inaugural contest in and the , held in Lugano and Lausanne respectively. The selected venue for the contest was the 12,400-seat , which serves as a venue for indoor sports and concert events. The arena is located in the municipality of Münchenstein in Basel-Landschaft, right by the border with Basel-Stadt. The Messe and Congress Center Basel complex hosted several events related to the contest. It was the location of the Eurovision Village, which hosted performances by contest participants and local artists as well as screenings of the live shows for the general public; and the EuroClub, which organised the official after-parties and private performances by contest participants. The "Turquoise Carpet" event on 11 May 2025 began at the Basel Town Hall and ran through the Middle Bridge, with the contestants and their delegations being presented before accredited press and fans, before ending at , where the opening ceremony was held. The stadium held a screening of the final along with performances by four previous Eurovision entrants, with entry charged for the public; the stadium was also featured on the live broadcast and was referred to as "Arena Plus" for the occasion. The Eurovision Street was located at Steinenvorstadt. Bidding phase After Switzerland's win in the 2024 contest, the local authorities of Geneva expressed their interest in hosting the 2025 edition at Palexpo and submitted a formal application. On the same day, the president of the Basel-Stadt government, Conradin Cramer, also expressed interest in Basel hosting the 2025 event. On 12 May, Olma Hall in St. Gallen was proposed as a potential venue. On 13 May, Lugano, which hosted the inaugural contest in 1956, ruled out a bid to host in 2025. The president of Bern's cantonal government Philippe Müller expressed his reluctance to host the contest in the de facto Swiss capital, but the cantonal government itself later announced its support in organising the event in Bern. Meanwhile, Zurich's city council held a "high priority" meeting to discuss a bid. On 14 May, Lausanne, which hosted the 1989 contest, ruled out a bid to host in 2025, citing a lack of infrastructure. On 15 May, Biel/Bienne declared its interest to be associated with and co-host the event. On 17 May, the local government of Fribourg stated that it was examining a potential bid. On 5 June, the Basel-Stadt government confirmed that it would bid, proposing St. Jakobshalle and St. Jakob-Park as possible venues. On 6 June, Biel/Bienne and Bern's municipalities announced a joint bid. On 12 June, St. Gallen announced that it would not submit a bid due to not meeting the requirements to host the event. The host broadcaster, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), launched the bidding process on 27 May 2024, by issuing a list of requirements for interested cities. Basel, Bern, Geneva, and Zurich officially declared their interest and finalised their bids on 28 June. Representatives from the host broadcaster visited the four bidding cities in early July, and shortlisted Basel and Geneva on 19 July. On 30 August, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and SRG SSR announced Basel as the host city, with St. Jakobshalle as the chosen venue. Key: Host city Shortlisted Submitted a bid == Participants ==

, April 2025 Eligibility for participation in the Eurovision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with an EBU membership that is capable of receiving the contest via the Eurovision network and broadcasting it live nationwide. The EBU issues invitations to participate in the contest to all members. On 12 December 2024, the EBU initially announced that broadcasters from 38 countries would participate in the 2025 contest, including , returning after a two-year absence. On 22 January 2025, announced its withdrawal, citing economic reasons and the quality of , thereby reducing the number of participating countries to 37. The contest featured two returning artists for the same country: Justyna Steczkowska had previously represented in , and Nina Žižić had appeared with Who See for . Steczkowska's return 30 years after her first appearance broke the record for the longest gap between two participations by the same artist, which was previously held by Anna Vissi with a gap of 24 years between her entries for and . Other countries The EBU member broadcasters in , , and confirmed non-participation prior to the announcement of the participants list by the EBU. Macedonian broadcaster MRT discussed a potential return of the country to the contest, in response to an email from Eurovision fans urging the broadcaster to do so in October 2024; ultimately did not appear on the final list of participants for 2025. Kosovar broadcaster RTK's general director Shkumbin Ahmetxhekaj sent a formal letter to the EBU in June 2024, requesting an invitation for Kosovo to debut in the contest in 2025; this was rejected by the EBU's General Assembly in July 2024. == Production and format ==

The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 was produced by the Swiss national broadcaster SRG SSR. The core team consisted of Reto Peritz and Moritz Stadler as executive producers, The theme art and background music's creation are overseen by art director Artur Deyneuve. Two new positions were created: the ESC director and the commercial director, filled by Martin Green (managing director of the ) and Jurian van der Meer, respectively; Green would oversee the work of executive supervisor Martin Österdahl and Van der Meer. In response to the circumstances that led to the disqualification of the Joost Klein from that year's final, from 2025 onwards, no behind-the-scenes filming of the artists would be permitted without prior approval from their delegations' head of press. A set of conduct rules and duty of care guidelines was codified and made mandatory for all personnel working in the event. The allocated budget was (), with the Executive Council of Basel-Stadt contributing (), SRG SSR contributing (), and the EBU contributing (). was ultimately left unspent by the Basel-Stadt canton. Visual, sound, and stage design On 16 December 2024, SRG SSR unveiled the theme art and stage design for the 2025 contest. The theme art, designed by the London-based agency Not Wieden+Kennedy and named "Unity Shapes Love", was built on variably-coloured miniatures of the "Eurovision heart" being arranged to emulate the halftone pixelation effect, symbolising "millions of people unified by the Eurovision Song Contest, to listen and celebrate together". The theme music, produced by MassiveMusic and titled "See You Radiate", featured nods to Swiss traditional music. Devised for the second year in a row by German production designer Florian Wieder, who had previously designed the sets of seven previous contests, the stage was inspired by Switzerland's mountains and linguistic diversity, highlighted by a central extension that extends into the standing audience area and surrounded by an LED arch. On 26 February 2025, SRG SSR unveiled a mascot for the 2025 contest, in a first for the event since . Named "Lumo" and designed by Lynn Brunner of the , it is an anthropomorphic heart shape with orange curly hair. Postcards The "postcards" were short video introductions shown on television while the stage is being prepared for the next entry. Filmed between January and April 2025 and produced by the Zurich-based company Dynamic Frame, with creative direction by Jen Ries and Luca Zurfluh, the postcards featured the competing artists taking part in local activities across Switzerland. The following locations were used for each participating country: • Basel, Basel-Stadt • Betlis, Canton of St. Gallen • Bern, Canton of Bern • Emmental, Canton of Bern • Zurich, Canton of Zurich • Jungfraujoch, Valais and Bern • Zermatt, Valais • Basel, Basel-Stadt • , Aargau • Gruyères, Fribourg • Basel, Basel-Stadt • Appenzell, Appenzell Innerrhoden • Ascona, Ticino • Geneva, Canton of Geneva • Basel, Basel-Stadt • Peccia, Ticino • Rapperswil, St. Gallen • CERN, Meyrin, Canton of Geneva • Morcote, Ticino • Basel, Basel-Stadt • Zurich, Canton of Zurich • Basel, Basel-Stadt • , Nidwalden • Le Noirmont, Canton of Jura • Zurich, Canton of Zurich • Filisur, Grisons • Egnach, Thurgau • Laax, Grisons • Lavaux, Vaud • Bruzella, Ticino • Vaz/Obervaz, Grisons • Alp Raguta, Grisons • Lucerne, Canton of Lucerne • Magglingen, Canton of Bern • Basel, Basel-Stadt • Basel, Basel-Stadt • Zermatt, Valais Presenters , Michelle Hunziker, and Sandra Studer The Swiss comedian Hazel Brugger and singer Sandra Studerwho represented were announced as the presenters of the 2025 contest on 20 January 2025, and they hosted all three shows of the event; Swiss-Italian television presenter Michelle Hunziker joined them for the final. Jan van Ditzhuijzen and Tanja Dankner provided commentary for the "Turquoise Carpet" and opening ceremony events, with welcoming the competing artists at the start of the carpet and interviewing them at the end of the route. The public screening of the final at was hosted by Sven Epiney and , both of whom also announced the points of the Swiss jury from the stadium. Epiney additionally moderated the winner's press conference. Semi-final allocation draw The draw to determine the participating countries' semi-finals took place on 28 January 2025 at 12:30 CET, at the auditorium of the . The thirty-one semi-finalists were divided over five pots, based on historical voting patterns, with the purpose of reducing the chance of bloc voting and increasing suspense in the semi-finals. The draw also determined which semi-final each of the six automatic qualifiers – host country and "Big Five" countries (, , , and the ) – would vote in, be required to broadcast, and perform its entry in a non-competitive capacity. The ceremony was hosted by Jennifer Bosshard and Jan van Ditzhuijzen, and included the symbolic transfer of duties from Carina Nilsson, the president of previous host city Malmö's council, to Conradin Cramer, the president of the Basel-Stadt government. The host city insignia, which had traditionally been used since , was replaced by a dress gifted by Nilsson to Cramer, the first "friendship gift" that would replace the host city insignia from this year. Flag policy The flag policy was updated for 2025, with competing artists allowed to display only the flag of the country they represent in official capacitiesincluding onstage, in the green room, Turquoise Carpet, and the Eurovision Village. On the other hand, the policy overturned a previous ban for the audience, allowing the display of any flag permitted under Swiss law, including pride flags, Palestinian flags, and the flag of Europe. While accepting the policy, Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS stated that it would push for changes for the following year's contest; the broadcaster had earlier met with LGBTQ+ advocacy group COC Nederland, which called the ban on pride flags for competing artists "outrageously ridiculous". Glenn Micallef, the European Union (EU)'s cultural commissioner, also criticised similar restrictions on displaying the EU flag for competing artists. == Contest overview ==

Changes to the process of revealing the semi-final qualifiers were implemented with this year's edition. For the first nine qualifiers, countries would be called in sets of three via split-screen, with one progressing to the final at a time. The final qualifier would then be announced while the hosts are onscreen. Semi-final 1 and Sandra Studer, alongside Petra Mede, performed the musical number "Made in Switzerland" as an interval act in the first semi-final. The first semi-final took place on 13 May 2025 at 21:00 CEST. Fifteen countries competed in the first semi-final. Those countries plus , and , as well as non-participating countries under an aggregated "Rest of the World" vote, voted in this semi-final. The running order (R/O) was determined by the contest producers and was announced publicly on 27 March. In addition to the competing entries, Spain, Italy and Switzerland performed their entries during the show, appearing on stage after the entries from Estonia, Belgium and Croatia, respectively. Ukraine was awarded the most points in the semi-final, and qualified for the final alongside, in order of points total, Albania, the Netherlands, Sweden, Estonia, Iceland, Poland, Norway, Portugal, and San Marino. The countries that failed to reach the final were Cyprus, Croatia, Slovenia, Belgium, and Azerbaijan. Semi-final 2 The second semi-final took place on 15 May 2025 at 21:00 CEST. Final The final took place on 17 May 2025 at 21:00 CEST The running order for the remaining finalists was determined by the contest producers following the second semi-final. Austria won the contest with the song "Wasted Love", performed by JJ and written by him along with Teodora Špirić and Thomas Thurner. Austria won with 436 points, also winning the jury vote. It was the country's third win in the contest, following prior victories in and . Israel came second with 357 points and won the televote, with Estonia, Sweden, Italy, Greece, France, Albania, Ukraine, and Switzerland completing the top ten. Luxembourg, Denmark, Spain, Iceland, and San Marino occupied the bottom five positions. French newspaper reported that Céline Dion was also slated to perform her winning song for , "", but she withdrew at the last minute due to health issues; this was denied by her management. Spokespersons The spokespersons announced the 12-point score from their respective country's national jury in the following order: • Keyyo • Safura • Ingrid Sammut • Chantal Janzen • Lorella Flego • Lusine Tovmasyan • Fabienne Zwally • Senhit • Jerry Heil • Tom Hugo • Philipp Hansa • • Topo Gigio • Iolanda • • Doris Pinčić • Dons • Nicky Byrne • Aleksandra Budka • Marko Vukčević • • Dragana Kosjerina • • Sophie Ellis-Bextor • Chanel • • Silia Kapsis • Michael Schulte • • Eden Golan • Andri Xhahu • Silvester Belt • Hera Björk • Nutsa Buzaladze • Loukas Hamatsos • Kristjan Jakobson • and Sven Epiney == Detailed voting results ==

Semi-final 1 The ten qualifiers from the first semi-final were determined solely by televoting, with the exception of San Marino which did not organise a televote, and thus used the votes of its back-up jury. All fifteen countries competing in the first semi-final voted, alongside Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the aggregated Rest of the World vote. The ten qualifying countries were announced in no particular order, and the full results were published after the final was held. 12 points Below is a summary of all 12 points received in the first semi-final. Ukraine received the maximum score of 12 points from four countries, while Sweden received three sets of 12 points. Both Cyprus and the Netherlands received two sets of 12 points, while Albania, Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Iceland, Norway, Poland and San Marino received one each. Semi-final 2 The ten qualifiers from the second semi-final were determined solely by televoting. All sixteen countries competing in the second semi-final voted, alongside France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the aggregated Rest of the World vote. The ten qualifying countries were announced in no particular order, and the full results were published after the final was held. 12 points Below is a summary of all 12 points received in the second semi-final. Israel received the maximum score of 12 points from thirteen countries, followed by Armenia which received two sets of 12 points. Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro and Serbia were each awarded one set of 12 points. Final The results of the final were determined by televoting and jury voting in all thirty-seven participating countries, plus the Rest of the World aggregate public vote. The announcement of the jury points was conducted by each country individually, with the country's spokesperson announcing their jury's favorite entry that received 12 points, with the remaining points shown on screen. Following the completion of the jury points announcement, the public points were announced as an aggregate by the contest hosts in ascending order starting from the country which received the fewest points from the jury. 12 points Below is a summary of all 12 points received in the final. In the jury vote, Austria received the maximum score from eight countries, followed by Italy and France with six and five sets of 12 points, respectively. Greece received four sets of 12 points, Latvia and Switzerland received three, Germany received two, and Albania, Armenia, Finland, Israel, Sweden and the United Kingdom were each awarded one set of 12 points. In the public vote, Israel received the maximum score of 12 points from twelve countries and the Rest of the World vote, followed by Estonia with five sets of 12 points, Sweden with four, Greece and Ukraine with three sets of 12 points each, Albania and Poland with two, and Armenia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and San Marino were each awarded one set of 12 points. == Broadcasts ==

All participating broadcasters may choose to have on-site or remote commentators providing insight and voting information to their local audience. Although they are required to, at minimum, show the final and semi-final in which their country votes, most broadcasters cover all three shows. Some non-participating broadcasters also air the contest. The Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel provides international live streams with no commentary of all shows. The table below details the broadcasting plans and commentators for the countries that aired the contest. According to the EBU, in total 166 million people watched at least a minute of the television broadcasts, while the YouTube broadcasts culminatively garnered 19.9 million views over a seven-day period. Votes were received from 146 countries, including the 37 competing countries. == Other awards ==

Marcel Bezençon Awards The Marcel Bezençon Awards honour songs in the contest's final. They have been organised since 2002 by Sweden's then-head of delegation and 1992 representative Christer Björkman and 1984 winner Richard Herrey. The awards are divided into three categories: the Artistic Award, the Composers Award, and the Media Award. The winners were revealed shortly before the Eurovision final on 17 May. OGAE OGAE, an organisation of over forty Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs across Europe and beyond, conducts an annual voting poll first held in 2002 as the Marcel Bezençon Fan Award. After all votes were cast, the top-ranked entry in the 2025 poll was Sweden's "" performed by KAJ; the top five results are shown below. The You're a Vision Award, which had been awarded by Songfestival.be since 2022 following the discontinuation of the Barbara Dex Award, was not organised in the months following the contest; no announcements have been made since regarding its status. This was the first time since that no award was given out based on the outfits worn by the competing artists during the live shows. == Reception ==

Commercial impact Following the 2025 contest, four entries entered the Billboard Global 200 chart dated 31 May 2025: Germany's "" at number 80, Estonia's "" at number 93, Sweden's "" at number 123, and Austria's winning entry "Wasted Love" at number 167. On the Billboard Global Excl. US chart also dated 31 May 2025, the four aforementioned entries entered at numbers 28, 33, 45, and 63, respectively, followed by Norway's "Lighter" at number 172. Additionally, the "Made in Switzerland" interval act from the first semi-final was released as a single on 6 June 2025, and peaked at number 16 on the Swiss Hitparade. Controversies on Israeli participation on the "Turquoise Carpet" in Basel with pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the background, 11 May 2025 Due to the continuing Gaza war, Israel's participation in the contest remained controversial, with calls for the exclusion of the country from the event. The Slovenian broadcaster RTVSLO submitted a demand for the EBU to exclude Israel, while Spanish broadcaster RTVE, Irish broadcaster RTÉ, Icelandic broadcaster RÚV, and Belgian broadcaster VRT called for a wider discussion among EBU members regarding Israel's participation. The EBU committed to a discussion regarding Israel's involvement "in due course", but reiterated that it is "an association of public service broadcasters, not governments", and that all EBU members are eligible to compete. 72 former Eurovision contestants signed a letter calling for Israel's exclusion, including former winners Charlie McGettigan and Salvador Sobral; the previous edition's winner Nemo and this edition's winner JJ later publicly joined calls to exclude Israel. During the introductory postcard preceding Israel's performance in the second semi-final, RTVE's commentators Tony Aguilar and Julia Varela mentioned the number of Palestinian casualties of the war. Following a complaint filed by the Israeli broadcaster Kan, the EBU warned RTVE it would be fined if its commentators "mention the Gaza conflict again". Ahead of the final, RTVE aired a message that read "When human rights are at stake, silence is not an option. Peace and justice for Palestine". During the final, Israel's performance was met with booing by the audience; the Swiss host broadcaster SRG SSR replaced this in the television broadcast with pre-recorded applause. Israel ultimately won the televote and finished in second place overall, prompting a number of participating broadcasters, including RTVE, VRT, RÚV, Belgium's French-speaking RTBF, Finland's Yle, Norway's NRK, RTÉ, and the Netherlands' AVROTROS and NPO, to call for a rework of the televoting system while also highlighting concerns over Israel's participation. RTVE, VRT, and RTÉ additionally called for an independent audit of their countries' televoting results; Eurovision News Spotlight, a fact-checking and open-source intelligence initiative by the EBU, published an investigation on 19 May 2025 which found evidence that the Israel Government Advertising Agency had conducted a cross-platform advertising campaign and utilised official state social media accounts to encourage public support for Israel's entry in the contest, specifically providing instructions on how voters could cast all 20 of their allowed votes for Israel. The advertisements received over 68 million total impressions. The Israeli government had previously admitted to deploying the same strategy during the 2024 contest. == Official album ==

Eurovision Song Contest: Basel 2025 is the official compilation album of the contest, featuring all 37 entries. It was put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by Universal Music Group digitally on 18 April 2025, in CD format on 25 April 2025, and in vinyl format on 23 May 2025. Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts == See also ==