The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual event organised under the auspices of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the largest union of public service media in the world.

The EBU co-produces the Eurovision Song Contest together with its Member Broadcasters, most notably the public broadcaster of the preceding winning country, the Host Broadcaster.

In a nutshell, each participating broadcaster submits one original song. The max length of the song is 3 minutes, may be performed by up to six artists on stage, and must not have been released before a certain date.

The act performs that song live on stage in a competitive system of Semi-Finals and a Grand Final, for the chance to win the Eurovision Song Contest.

The extended Rules change slightly every year, and a public summary is available to read.

Participation in the Eurovision Song Contest is limited to Members of the EBU or specially invited Associates. More details on membership criteria can be found on the EBU website.

Associates of the EBU may be eligible to enter the Eurovision Song Contest, this is decided by the Reference Group, the governing body of the Eurovision Song Contest, on a case by case basis.

The Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group is the governing board for all EBU Members, its purpose being to guide the Eurovision Song Contest.

The Eurovision Song Contest is a long running non-political, entertainment event which is designed to bring audiences and countries together.

The original idea in 1956 was to offer all Members of the EBU, the world’s leading alliance of public service media, an exciting yearly entertainment television show to take part in and to test the limits of live television broadcast technology.

Over the past 70 years the event has grown from 7 participating broadcasters to around 40 with Semi-Finals taking place since 2004.

Given the scale of the show and the hours of content available, the Eurovision Song Contest offers excellent value for money for EBU Members and huge excitement and enjoyment for millions of fans worldwide.

The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-profit event, mostly financed by - contributions from the Participating Broadcasters (the so-called participation fee). This fee is different for each country based on the solidarity principle that the strongest shoulders carry the most weight. It is at the sole discretion of each Participating Broadcaster to decide if they wish to make public the financial details of their participation;

- a contribution from the Host Broadcaster, depending on local circumstances and available resources;

- a contribution from the Host City, either financially or 'in kind' (e.g. covering expenses of city branding, side events, security, etc.);

- commercial revenue from sponsorship agreements, ticket sales, televoting and merchandise, which varies from year to year.

On average, over 90% of all available funds are earmarked for the TV production and event organization. Approximately 5% of available funds represent the budget for the EBU's Eurovision Song Contest team and its partners. Any remaining funds are reimbursed to the Participating Broadcasters, for as long as local legislation allows such a reimbursement. The budget is overlooked and approved by the Reference Group, on behalf of all Participating

The Eurovision Song Contest’s values are of universality and inclusivity and our proud tradition of celebrating diversity through music which is reflected in our global audiences of over 160 million.

You can watch the Semi-Finals and Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest live on the channels of every participating country’s public broadcaster.

You can also watch the contest live, and later on demand, via the official YouTube channel, without commentary.

Please note that there are some areas that are geo-blocked and therefore YouTube streaming is not available in some territories. This changes from year to year.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 witnessed unprecedented success across multiple platforms, engaging a vast audience both in Europe and worldwide. A staggering 163 million viewers tuned in to the event through public service media channels, showcasing its widespread appeal. Votes were cast from 156 countries globally, underscoring the Contest's international reach and significance.

Of particular note is the remarkable youth audience share, the highest on record, indicating the enduring popularity of Eurovision among younger demographics. Leveraging the power of social media, videos featuring #Eurovision2024 garnered an impressive 6.5 billion views on TikTok, marking a substantial increase of 1.7 billion views compared to the previous year's hashtag. The Contest also achieved a significant milestone by reaching nearly 500 million accounts on TikTok, quadrupling the reach compared to 2023.

Furthermore, the official ESC 2024 playlist emerged as the most-streamed Spotify playlist and featured in the Top 10 Apple Music playlists globally on Sunday 12 May reflecting the Contest's influence on music consumption trends.

The Eurovision Song Contest has been broadcast in Australia for more than 30 years. The Australian broadcaster SBS is an Associate Member of the EBU and in 2015, to mark the 60th Eurovision Song Contest, was invited to submit an entry. In 2016 the broadcaster requested to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest again. The Reference Group, the governing body of the Eurovision Song Contest, voted unanimously in favour of Australia’s participation in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively.

In February 2019, it was announced that Australia has secured participation as a competitor at the Eurovision Song Contest until 2023. It is yet to be decided whether Australia will become a permanent participant in the contest.

Kosovo cannot take part in the Eurovision Song Contest because their public broadcaster is not a Member of the EBU. The statutes of the EBU say that a Member must come from a country that is a Member of the International Telecommunications Union or is a Member of the Council of Europe. Kosovo is in neither.

The EBU helped set up Kosovo’s public service broadcaster RTK in 1999 and it continues to work closely with RTK to protect public service media in Kosovo.

All entries to the Eurovision Song Contest are selected by the Participating Broadcasters. These are the Member Broadcasters of the EBU that take part in the Eurovision Song Contest. Some select their respective entry internally, while others organise public national selections. For more information about how to represent your country, we recommend you contact your national public broadcaster.