🔴 2018 Eurovision Song Contest from Lisbon/Portugal GRAND FINAL

Dates: Semi-final 1: 8 May 2018 - Semi-final 2: 10 May 2018 - Final: 12 May 2018
Host venue: Lisbon Arena, Lisbon, Portugal
Presenters: Sílvia Alberto, Daniela Ruah, Catarina Furtado, Filomena Cautela
Directed by Troels Lund, Paula Macedo, Pedro Miguel
Executive supervisor: Jon Ola Sand - Executive producer: João Nuno Nogueira
Host broadcaster: Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP)

The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the 2017 contest with the song "Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP), the contest was held at the Lisbon Arena, and consisted of two semi-finals on 8 and 10 May, and a final on 12 May 2018. The three live shows were presented by Portuguese television presenters Filomena Cautela, Sílvia Alberto and Catarina Furtado, and Portuguese-American actress Daniela Ruah, marking the first time that the contest was presented by four hosts.

Forty-three countries participated in the contest, equalling the record of the 2008 and 2011 editions. Russia returned after their absence from the previous edition, and for the first time since 2011, no country that participated in the previous edition withdrew.

The winner was Israel with the song "Toy", performed by Netta and written by Doron Medalie and Stav Beger. Cyprus, Austria, Germany and Italy rounded out the top five, with Cyprus achieving their best result to date. Israel won the public vote, and came third in the jury vote behind Austria and Sweden. Further down the table, the Czech Republic also achieved its best result to date, finishing sixth.

The EBU reported that the contest had a worldwide audience of around 186 million viewers, surpassing the 2017 edition by over 4 million.

The postcards, filmed between March and April 2018, involved the act emerging from a door into Portugal to take part in a themed activity, such as mountain biking, making a salad or pastel de nata, or visiting popular attractions. The location where the activity took place was written in Portuguese at the start of the postcard. At the end of the postcard, the act posed for the camera, the slogan's hashtag appeared on the bottom corner of the screen, and song information was printed onto the country's flag. All the postcards had the same score, composed by Luis Figueredo.

Final

The final took place on 12 May 2018 at 20:00 WEST (21:00 CEST). Twenty-six countries participated in the final, with all forty-three participating countries eligible to vote. The running order for the final was published on 10 May 2023. Israel won the contest with the song "Toy", performed by Netta and written by Doron Medalie and Stav Beger. Israel won with 529 points, also winning the televote. Cyprus came second with 436 points, with Austriaohich w won the jury vote), Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Estonia, Denmark, and Moldova completing the top ten. Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom, Finland, and Portugal occupied the bottom five positions.

The final was opened by Portuguese fado singers Ana Moura and Mariza performing "Fado loucura" and "Barco negro" respectively. This was followed by the flag parade, introducing all twenty-six finalists, accompanied with music by Portuguese scratching duo Beatbombers. The interval acts included a medley of "Ter peito e espaço", "Nova Lisboa", and "Reserva pra dois", performed by DJ Branko and featuring Sara Tavares, Dino D'Santiago, and Mayra Andrade respectively; a video sketch about the history of Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest, featuring Suzy; an interview with Polina Bogusevich, winner of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017; and Salvador Sobral, who performed his new single "Mano a mano" and his winning song "Amar pelos dois", the latter in a duet with Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso, with both songs featuring piano accompaniment by Júlio Resende.

R/O Country Artist Song Points Place
1 Ukraine Mélovin "Under the Ladder" 130 17
2 Spain Amaia and Alfred "Tu canción" 61 23
3 Slovenia Lea Sirk "Hvala, ne!" 64 22
4 Lithuania Ieva Zasimauskaitė "When We're Old" 181 12
5 Austria Cesár Sampson "Nobody but You" 342 3
6 Estonia Elina Nechayeva "La forza" 245 8
7 Norway Alexander Rybak "That's How You Write a Song" 144 15
8 Portugal Cláudia Pascoal "O jardim" 39 26
9 United Kingdom SuRie "Storm" 48 24
10 Serbia Sanja Ilić and Balkanika "Nova deca" 113 19
11 Germany Michael Schulte "You Let Me Walk Alone" 340 4
12 Albania Eugent Bushpepa "Mall" 184 11
13 France Madame Monsieur "Mercy" 173 13
14 Czech Republic Mikolas Josef "Lie to Me" 281 6
15 Denmark Rasmussen "Higher Ground" 226 9
16 Australia Jessica Mauboy "We Got Love" 99 20
17 Finland Saara Aalto "Monsters" 46 25
18 Bulgaria Equinox "Bones" 166 14
19 Moldova DoReDoS "My Lucky Day" 209 10
20 Sweden Benjamin Ingrosso "Dance You Off" 274 7
21 Hungary AWS "Viszlát nyár" 93 21
22 Israel Netta "Toy" 529 1
23 Netherlands Waylon "Outlaw in 'Em" 121 18
24 Ireland Ryan O'Shaughnessy "Together" 136 16
25 Cyprus Eleni Foureira "Fuego" 436 2
26 Italy Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro "Non mi avete fatto niente" 308 5