Good evening Europe and good morning Australia, this is Malmö calling! Tonight is the Grand Final Jury Show for 2024, during which the 37 juries around Europe and beyond will watch a full run through of tomorrow night’s live show and cast their all important votes. 26 countries will sing tonight – but only one can be crowned the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 tomorrow !

Sit back and relax, and let Eurovision Ireland’s own John Stanton entertain and inform you. As always, feel free to tell me what you think and give your opinions about tonight’s Final and who your favourites are! I might even shout out to you in the blog!

REMEMBER! Tonight’s show is a closed affair, so only press and those present in the hall can watch in real time – if you want to know what’s going on, you’ll have to rely on my powers of description!

Also, half of all the scores you see awarded tomorrow will be decided tonight – so every note, every look down the camera, every moment… it all counts!! Who has their sights set on victory? Let’s find out! All times below are CET.

LIVE BLOG STARTS HERE

23.46 – On that note. we’re going to sign off on this last EI blog of the 2024 season. Enjoy the show tomorrow night, may the right song win, and thanks so much for staying the course over the last few months. Goodnight from Malmö

23.45 – Next on is Loreen. She’s won this contest before you know.

23.43 – Petra is getting her own postcard now. Drinking, withdrawing money, getting ketchup down her blouse. Very droll.

23.42 – We now get a plug for the jury spokespersons. They’re an interesting bunch of characters.

23.41 – We’re getting extracts of JESC 2023 now. This must mean a plug for Big ESC’s little sibling.

23.36 – Recap time again. I did warn you.

23.35 – Conchita Wurst, Carola Häggkvist and Charlotte Perrelli are on stage now, sing said Waterloo. A nice little tribute.

23.33 – The screens have returned, and we seen clips of ABBA videos to the tune of something called Waterloo. I hear it did rather well in 1974.

23.32 – The press rooms screens have gone black, but we can hear ABBA. Possibly.

23.31 – We now get another group beginning with the letter ‘A’. That might just be ABBA.

23.30 – Alcazar perform the song Crying at the Discotheque. They never quite won Melodifestivalen. But they’ve blown a huge budget on shiny pyros.

23.29 – It’s a Swedish band beginning with the letter ‘A’! But who? That’s right, it’s Alcazar.

23.27 -First recap over. There will be at least one more, so they can encourage the televoter to vote again

23.21 – The voting, of course, opens at the start of the night, but we get a reminder of the numbers and a recap of the 26 songs. That’s a lot of songs to get your head around.

23.20 – The songs are over. Tomorrow when we do this in anger, we’ll know there’s a winner in there somewhere.

23.19 – Kaleen starts off in a long hooded robe and boots, and little else. Then her dancers join her and remover he robe. That’s never happened before. This is the banger that it could be argued that contest has needed all night. It’s more kickass choreography and thumping bass beats. It may be relying a lot on pre-recorded backing vocals, but Kaleen gives it her best shot. She eventually gets thrown around a lot and there’s lots of lasers occurring. A good ending.

23.16 – And onto Austria’s Conchita Wurst and Cesár Sampson

23.15 – A quick break and we talk to the people of Brighton. That city hosted the competition in 1974 you know.

23.14 – I watched this last night in the arena, and there’s a single steadicam for most of this. One of the best in the business I’m told. He certainly earns his keep and aids this song like you woulnd’ tbelieve. Slimane has a darn good voice on him. There’s very good camera interaction. I don’t completely get the part where Slimane steps away from the microphone, at leats not until he goes back to it. Very good.

23.10 – Marie Myriam and Barbara Pravi signal it’s France.

23.09 – Nutsa has nice gold gloves. And a slightly warbly voice. No, that’s a good thing. And four dancers. Sound familiar? She does have effective backdrop of a gold sun. And that kickass dance routine we’ve been craving for many many hours. To be honest, whilst her voice is good, it could possibly be used better. Still, we’re near the end, so the crowd is nicely warmed up for a banger like this. Nit bad work, Georgia.

23.06 – It’s Georgia. So Sopho Khalvashi and Nina Sublatti

23.05 – It’s Mr Charisma and he knows how to strut, prance and many other things no doubt. This is very busy but seems to work at the same time. The shots of the audience show they’re getting into this. Everything works. Dear HRT, are you ready to host in 2025?

23.02 – Doris Dragovic and Let3 tell us we’re off to Croatia next.

23.01 – Raiven starts alone on stage in minimal costuming. She has a good writhe too. By chorus one, five dancers have joined her. They all writhe together. It’s very serious, with its dry ice, close camera angles and stern looks. And much wailing. It may rely a bit heavily on pre-recorded backing vocals though.

22.58 – Over to Slovenia, with extracts of songs from Nuša Derenda and Zala & Gašper

22.57 – We get a plug for merchandise. CD, DVD, LP and runestone. Yes, that’s right. ;-)

22.56 – Another pause, consisting of audience shots. It’s like 1977 all over again.

22.54 – Another breather to celebrate Malin’s mother-in-law. She choreographed UK entries in the early 1980s.

22.53 – Nemo has a prop they spends almost all the song on. The outfit looks like it could come from a muppet. Anyway, back to the prop. It rotates and goes up and down, You think they might get stuff wrong, but doesn’t. Even the almost-falling-over works well. But you don’t see two stagehands giving the disc a helping hand at strategic points. Nemo’s vocal is faultless too. This gets the biggest cheer in the arena and the press centre.

22.49 – No stopping now, and we go to Switzerland. Céline Dion and Gjon’s Tears give us a flavour of Swiss success.

22.48 – A very standard girly bop. It has cutting edge choreography, dancers for every persuasion, lots of light show, and an attitude. It’s actually a decent version of the genre. It opened the first semi-final which was a good place to put it. Right now might mean it’s less special. But it could do something.

22.46 – Cyprus gave us Hara & Andreas, and Ivi Adamou

22.45 – Yeh! It’s joyous fun in song form. Jako makes good use of the camera, and bounces around the stage using it all. The press room loves it. I was up dancing so haven’t written much. Save to say it was brilliant.

22.42 – Next to Armenia. Inga & Anush and Rosa Linn is what we see.

22.41 – The staging for this is very contrasting Black and white, and not much in between. Iolanda’s vocal is beautiful. The fencing-mask dancers set this off nicely too. I was pleasantly surprised when this qualified and it could still spring a surprise or two. It’s unlike anything else in the songs, and when she hits that note, it gets a huge cheer. Great to see.

22.38 – Over to Portugal, and Doce and Salvador Sobral

22.37 – A slight pause before Finland, probably due to a big prop malfunction. Windows95man wants to ‘slay’. I hope someone had a mop and bucket. This is as baffingly bonkers as ever. All the camera angles almost work as they are expected to. A definite contrast to Serbia, and will score televote points. But juries? I’m not so dure.

22.33 – CatCat and Käärijä mean it must be Finland.

22.32 – Another huge contrast to Teya Dora’s heartfelt ballad about a national flower of remembrance. She has a large fake rock prop on stage for company. The staging, especially the camera above her is used well. I still think this needed a bit more light for the final chorus, but lightning effects work too.

22.29 – Staying southern European we go to Serbia. Marija Šerifović and Konstrakta confirm this.

22.28 – Angelina starts off lying on the stage. Maybe it’s comfy. But she soon rises to be accompanied by five backing dancers who all gyrate along with the thumping tune. It’s very slick and Ange makes goo eye contact with the camera – it is a TV show after all. She eventually finds the throne cunningly put on stage . The steadicam operator also earns his keep during parts of this song. Could this be our accidental winner?

22.25 – Italy next. Umberto Tozzi e Raf, and Måneskin are we’re treated to.

22.24 – Gåte give us a nice dark stage which they bounce around with their dark rock ballad. You don’t need to know Norwegian to get this means business. A great little number that gets a huge cheer. And the guitarist catches his guitar that he throws so some height first.

22.20 – Norway next, so we see Ketil Stokkan and Rybak

22.19 – Linda does her usual unique schtick. And the she sings! Martin Österdahl will like this.

22.17 – Fourteen songs down and it’s break time. That means Linda Woodruff.

22.16 – The camera work is key here. Lots of trickery to give impressions of falling. Very effective. The vocal is on point and it all works well as a package. The bridge is breathy, but again fits in well to the vibe of the song. There’s a huge cheer from the press room, and you can hear the audience really liking it too. Could this do something good tomorrow night?

22.12 – The UK next. We see Sandie Shaw and Sam Ryder.

22.11 – The staging is designed to appeal to the Tikky Tokky generation. There’s a mix of many styles, some of which blend nicely and some seem to jar. Having said that the it’s choreographed to within an inch of its life. It’s Greece in three minutes, replate with hanky waving. All we’re missing is taramasalata. It’s OK.

22.08 – Greece next with Marinella and Helena Paparizou preceding this song

22.07 – A brief pause – Dons has a big prop to manoeuvre onto the stage. A bigger contrast you couldn’t ask for. A pared down performance from someone with an excellent voice. It’s simply staged with him moving around very little. Dons has some charisma about him and there’s also a decent orchestration going on too during the verses. The juries will love it.

22.03 – Marie N and Aminata mean Latvia

22.02 – Close staging and darkness start us off. Bambie works it all really well. The backing dancer really looks the demonic part and the way the candles light is amazing. He throws Bambie around but there’s no hiccup. And then there’s the costume change. You cannot take your eyes off this for one second. Brilliant beyond compare

21.59 – Over to Ireland!!!! Johnny Logan and Jedward herald Bambie. Bless ’em

21.58 – This is good fun. The lead singer starts down near the audience. By the time they’re all on stage this is really starting to bounce along. Lots of effective use of the stage. And surprisingly good choreography for a bunch of savvy Estonians. This is very good, very enjoyable, and really draws you in. A welcome addition to the Grand Final.

21.55 – From Spain to Estonia. It’s Dave, Tanel & 2XL, followed by Sandra Nurmsalu.

21.54 – The large Spanish contingent spring into action to help this song along. María from Nebulossa seems to have this nailed on. There is a part when she asks for audience participation, just before her dancing pals do a costume change. It’s definitely a performance. I do wonder, however, how many non-Spaniards will buy into it.

21.51 – Massiel and Chanel must mean it’s Spain.

21.50 – Petra now, and she tells us about the qualifications to be a host, and the rules about a song. Then onto the next song…

21.49 – Karin is 92 now, and we have a brief chat with her. She only has good things. What a star.

21.48. The voting was interesting and featured the immortal line ‘Can we have three points on the Turkey’?

21.47 – Our first break now. We get a retrospective of the 1975 contest – the first held in Sweden. Karin Falck hosted and had to do much of her own work herself. Choosing her outfit and writing her script amongst them

21.46 – This will be a bop for those in the arena. Silvester interacts well with the camera, although he does seem to be on automatic pilot. The setting flits between red and blue – very strong colours – and this is very effectively staged. Even the lights on the audience’s wrists are used to good effect. This might be the point at which the contest really starts. Very good.

21.43 – Over to Lithuania and we see Donny Montell and The Roop.

21.42 – This is dramatic – you can probably guess why. The crowd is very audible whilst she sings the opening verse. It may be pre-recorded for, erm, reasons. She emotes well and sings directly at the camera whilst her dancers move around her. There’s a large hoop which is the initial basis for the staging. Eden has an excellent voice and it really suits the song. And she doesn’t rely that much on pre-recorded backing vocals. That’s definitely a plus. There is applause afterwards.

21.39 – Duo Datz and Dana International (not Domestic) must mean it’s Israel next

21.38 – Due to an as yet unresolved incident this afternoon, we see a semi-final recording from Joost. It’s very blue in colour and very jolly. There are images of European buildings and cuisine on the backdrop, interspersed with 1980s-style block graphic games. Most interesting is a man dressed as a large blud bird on a mixing deck. The crowd love it, most notably when the kicking bass kicks in towards the end. We don’t know yet whether this will feature tomorrow night.

21.35 – Edsilia and Duncan precede the Dutch entry

21.34 – Non-Luxembourger Tali is in a box with her five backing dancers. The box disappears during the first chorus whilst we get a shot of her with her back to the audience and much pyro. The backdrop for the second verse features big cats (not tabbies, more like cougars). And then the dry ice starts. All the notes are hit, especially during the paired down bridge before the final chorus. You can hear the audience clapping along, so that can only be a good thing, right?

21.30 – Song four is from Luxembourg. France Gall and Lara Fabian have their clips shown.

21.29 – His setting features a fire in an oil drum and comfy chair. Obviously, he soon moves on to face the audience. There is an emphasis on fire and flames in the staging. He holds the camera well and he’s a very good singer. The song may well get lost when the votes come in, but he sells this so well.

21.26 – To Germany next. We see Mekado and Lena Meyer-Landrut

21.25 – Jerry joins us first and she’s in orange. Her opening lines are very serious and very powerful. She makes good use of the cliff prop that’s on the stage. And the alyona alyona joins us. Her rapping is also very compelling. The press room is loving it. And as for the final shot of the stage floor. You can’t not be taken by that. Great stuff.

21.22 – Ukraine’s turn now. We’re shown clips of Ruslana and Go_A.

21.21 – M&M are in dark blue, as per their MF performances. The setting starts off very narrowly, but we know their side screens will soon disappear. The crowd are audibly clapping along, and this really gets the party started. It’s a banger, albeit maybe a bit over-produced. But a decent opener.

21.18 – Onto song one. Sweden gets Carola and Loreen in the postcard

21.16 – Voting [will be] open this time tomorrow.

21.15 – We’re told that televoting opens before song one. At least it will tomorrow night. Tonight is purely for the juries.

21.14 – We get a recap of 67 years of Eurovision, crammed into 10 seconds.

21.13 – There’s a prize of a sculpture and DVD, perchance as a joke. What larks.

21.12 – Malin and Petra are in white and dark pink respectively

21.11 – They’ve all paraded in now. So we get introduced to Malin and Petra to Winner takes it all by ABBA.

21.07 – Bambie appears, to the tune of The look by Roxette. Very appropriate

21.06 – It’s the performer parade now. In draw order. Sweden, Ukraine… Well, you know the rest. The Netherlands gets mentioned but we cut away from the stage briefly until Israel gets called.

21.02 – A certain band from 1974 gets mentioned briefly, before we hear about Björn Skifs (SE78 and SE81). He scored the first Billboard Number One – Hooked on a feeling – by a Swede, also in 1974.

21.00 – And we’re off

Author: John Stanton

Source: Eurovision Ireland