Another year, another contest!

Things kicked off today with the Semi-Final Allocation Draw. This determines which countries will perform and vote in each of the two semi-finals.

Hosted in Basel by presenters Jennifer Bosshard and Jan van Ditzhuijzen, the Ceremony also saw the Host City insignia pass from previous hosts Malmö to new hosts Basel as is Eurovision tradition.

There are a total of 37 countries competing in the Eurovision 2025 in Basel, Switzerland. The Big 5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom) and last year’s winner Switzerland are automatically qualified to compete in the Grand Final on 17th May 2025.

The remaining 31 countries will compete in one semi-final each for a place in the Grand Final in which a total of 26 countries will perform.

The remaining 31 countries have to qualify for the Grand Final. They were grouped into five allocation draw pots, taking into account their voting histories to reduce neighbour voting, and were drawn to compete in one of the two semi-finals. 20 countries from the semi-finals will qualify for the Grand Final in which a total of 26 countries will perform (10 from semi-final one, 10 from semi-final two, the Big Five and last year’s winner).

The final running order of the semi-finals will be decided by producers later in March once all songs have been released, however they have been randomly allocated to perform in either the first half or the second half. The producers like to try and evenly space upbeat songs and ballads.

As countries are slowly beginning to release their entries, the semi-finals will start to take shape and we will see what sort of contest we are in for this year. There has been a lot of hype across the continent so far, this coupled with lots of upcoming national finals I’m expecting a strong contest this year.

The 2025 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on  13, 15 and 17 May at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland.