The world’s biggest music competition returns this May as the Eurovision Song Contest, one of the longest-running and most-watched non-sporting events in the world, is broadcast live from Turin across the BBC. In celebration of the most spectacular music contest on the planet, the BBC is promising viewers and listeners a huge array of Eurovision content across TV, Radio and Online.
And today, in Radio 2’s Eurovision: The Official All-Time Most Streamed - which lands today on BBC Sounds - Michelle Visage reveals that the all-time most streamed Eurovision song of all time is Arcade by Duncan Laurence (Netherlands, 2019) with ABBA’s Waterloo (Sweden, 1974) coming second, and Think About Things by Dadi Fryer (Iceland, 2020) in the bronze medal position.
Italy will play host to the 2022 contest following the country's victory in 2021 in Rotterdam with ‘Zitti E Buoni’ performed by Måneskin.
This year marks the 66th edition of the competition, where 40 countries will compete, starting with two semi-finals that will be broadcast live on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer on Tuesday 10 and Thursday 12 May, ahead of the Grand Final which will be broadcast live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds on Saturday 14 May.
As one of the Big Five countries (United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, France, Italy), the United Kingdom does not have to qualify from the semi-final stage of the competition and will gain automatic access to the Saturday Grand Final. Italy, as well as being part of the Big Five, are guaranteed a place in the final due to their victory at last year’s contest
TikTok sensation and singer-songwriter Sam Ryder will be representing the UK with his single ‘SPACE MAN’, released by Parlophone (part of Warner Music Group).
The result of the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest will be determined by a 50/50 vote. 50% of the votes come from the televoting in each participating country and the other 50% of votes will come from a group of five music professionals from each of the 40 countries taking part.
Director of Entertainment, Kate Phillips says ‘The BBC continues to be the home of Eurovision in the UK, across TV, Radio and Online, and this year it’s set to be bigger and better than ever. We’re excited to welcome the semi-finals back to BBC Three, before the Grand Final itself live on BBC One and Radio 2, where we’ll announce the points of the UK national jury live from Salford for the first time ever. As well as all this, BBC Four and BBC Two will be showing some classic Eurovision specials from across the years, whilst Radio 2 continues to be the home of Eurovision on the airwaves. This year it’s been great to have Radio 1 on board, where they have been closely following Sam Ryder’s journey ever since the announcement back in March. We’ll be going behind the scenes in an exclusive documentary for iPlayer, Sam Ryder: From TikTok to Eurovision! Plus lots more brilliant content not to be missed this May on the BBC!’
The Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Finals and Grand Final continue to be amongst the most popular Entertainment programmes on the BBC, with the Grand Final in 2021 reaching an average audience of 7.8 million (BBC 30 Day All Screens) in the UK, making it the most watched since 2014.
Eurovision is also one of the most popular Entertainment programmes for younger audiences on the BBC, with 1.5 million 16-34 year olds tuning in for the Grand Final last year.
The BBC’s Eurovision coverage is a BBC Studios production, commissioned by Kate Phillips, Director of Entertainment. The Executive Producer and Head Of Delegation is Andrew Cartmell, and the series producer and Assistant Head of Delegation is Lee Smithurst. Suzy Lamb is the MD for BBC Studios Entertainment and Music. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Rachel Ashdown.
