With the Eurovision 2024 Grand Final contestants confirmed after two semi-finals, the EBU has announced the running order of Saturday's show.
Host country Sweden was scheduled to host the opening match of the Grand Final at the Heads of Delegation meeting in March. The show's producers have now decided that Ukraine will come in second place and Austria will be honored to close out the show.
Eurovision 2024 Grand Final running order
- Sweden
- ukraine
- Germany
- Luxembourg
- Netherlands
- Israel
- Lithuania
- Spain
- estonia
- Ireland
- latvia
- Greece
- England
- Norway
- Italy
- Serbia
- Finland
- Portugal
- armenia
- cyprus
- Switzerland
- Slovenia
- Croatia
- georgia
- France
- Austria
Who drew what?
first half | Latter half | Producer selection |
Greece | Austria | latvia |
Lithuania | Norway | Netherlands |
Ireland | Slovenia | Israel |
Luxembourg | Finland | estonia |
England | cyprus | Switzerland |
Germany | France | georgia |
armenia | ||
Serbia | ||
Portugal | ||
ukraine | ||
Croatia | ||
Spain | ||
Italy |
Sweden was ranked first
How is the running order determined?
The running order of Eurovision is determined through a two-step process. First, finalists are randomly selected from the pot to appear in the first half, appear in the second half, or receive the producer's choice. This is a new option that gives organizers complete control over where acts are placed in the Grand Final.
Producers then arrange acts with two main criteria in mind: (1) creating an interesting show (a.k.a. mixing genres with the visual flow and feel of the show), and (2) practicality. (e.g. how long it takes to build and dismantle the various stages; props).
Does the order of competition affect a country's chances of winning?
It is generally considered advantageous to run later in the execution order. Several recent winners performed in the second half of the show, including Italy's Maneskin (24th place in 2021), Israel's Netta (22nd place in 2018) and Ukraine's Jamala (21st place in 2016).
But winning early is not unheard of. Sweden's Loreen (9th place in 2023), Ukraine's Karsh Orchestra (12th place), Portugal's Salvador Sobral (11th place), and the Netherlands' Duncan Lawrence (12th place) all performed in the first half.
The only place in the standings without a winner so far is a tie for second place, which is often considered a “death slot”. But remember that there is a first time for everything.
What do you think about the running order of the Eurovision 2024 Grand Final? When will your favorite act be performed? Let us know in the comments section below.