2 months ago

Dates: Semi-final 1: 10 May 2022 - Semi-final 2: 12 May 2022 - Final: 14 May 2022
Host venue: PalaOlimpico, Turin, Italy
Presenters: Alessandro Cattelan, Laura Pausini, Mika
Directed by: Cristian Biondani, Duccio Forzano - Executive supervisor: Martin Österdahl
Executive producers: Claudio Fasulo, Simona Martorelli - Host broadcaster: Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI)

The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the 2021 contest with the song "Zitti e buoni" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI), the contest was held at the PalaOlimpico, and consisted of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May, and a final on 14 May 2022. The three live shows were presented by Italian television presenter Alessandro Cattelan, Italian singer Laura Pausini and Lebanese-born British singer Mika.

Forty countries participated in the contest, with Armenia and Montenegro returning after their absence from the previous edition. Russia had originally planned to participate, but was excluded due to its invasion of Ukraine.

The winner was Ukraine with the song "Stefania", performed by Kalush Orchestra and written by the group's members Ihor Didenchuk, Oleh Psiuk, Tymofii Muzychuk and Vitalii Duzhyk, along with Ivan Klymenko. The United Kingdom finished in second place for a record-extending sixteenth time, also achieving its best result since 1998. Spain, Sweden and Serbia rounded out the top five, with Spain achieving its best result since 1995. Ukraine won the televote with 439 points, the most received in the contest's history to date, and came fourth in the jury vote behind the United Kingdom, Sweden and Spain. "Stefania" is the first song sung entirely in Ukrainian and the first song with hip-hop elements to win the contest.

The Italian government allocated around €1.5 million as part of the budget needed to host the event, while the municipality of Turin and the regional government of Piedmont contributed around €10 million in total. The preliminary total budget for the shows was €16.3 million. The full costs was not officially published, but is estimated to be at approximately €22 million.

The EBU reported that the contest had a television audience of 161 million viewers in 34 European markets, a decrease of 22 million viewers from the previous edition, however, it is noted that this is due to the exclusion of Russia and the lack of audience figures from Ukraine, with the overall figures up by 7 million viewers in a comparable market from 2021. An increase of three per cent in the 15–24 year old age range was also reported. A total of 18 million viewers watched the contest online on YouTube and TikTok.

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final took place on 12 May 2022 at 21:00 (CEST) Eighteen countries participated in this semi-final, with the running order published on 29 March 2022. Sweden won the most points, followed by Australia, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Finland, Belgium, Romania, and Azerbaijan. The countries that failed to reach the final were North Macedonia, Cyprus, Israel, San Marino, Ireland, Malta, Montenegro, and Georgia. All the countries competing in this semi-final were eligible to vote, plus Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.

This semi-final was opened by "The Italian Way", an act built around Italian improvisation performed by co-presenter Alessandro Cattelan, 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 "Grande amore". The British, German, and Spanish artists were then interviewed, and clips of their competing songs were played.

Participants and results of the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022

R/O Country Artist Song Points Place
1 Finland The Rasmus "Jezebel" 162 7
2 Israel Michael Ben David "I.M" 61 13
3 Serbia Konstrakta "In corpore sano" 237 3
4 Azerbaijan Nadir Rustamli "Fade to Black" 96 10
5 Georgia Circus Mircus "Lock Me In" 22 18
6 Malta Emma Muscat "I Am What I Am" 47 16
7 San Marino Achille Lauro "Stripper" 50 14
8 Australia Sheldon Riley "Not the Same" 243 2
9 Cyprus Andromache "Ela" 63 12
10 Ireland Brooke "That's Rich" 47 15
11 North Macedonia Andrea "Circles" 76 11
12 Estonia Stefan "Hope" 209 5
13 Romania Wrs "Llámame" 118 9
14 Poland Ochman "River" 198 6
15 Montenegro Vladana "Breathe" 33 17
16 Belgium Jérémie Makiese "Miss You" 151 8
17 Sweden Cornelia Jakobs "Hold Me Closer" 396 1
18 Czech Republic We Are Domi "Lights Off" 227 4