New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The wait is over. The best time of year has once again come around, as Switzerland gears up to deliver an epic Eurovision Song Contest, after Nemo took home the trophy in 2024 with their song The Code.
St. Jakobshalle in Basel, where the show will be hosted, has been busy in the lead up to the 69th Eurovision Song Contest. We've seen artists revealing their staging, crew perfecting quick changes, and vocal warm-ups in every corridor.
Before the week of Live Shows kicks off, here's the low-down on everything you need to know. The all-important running orders, a hint at special performances, and top tips on watching the show.
First up, let's get the calendar in order. There are three Live Shows taking place in Basel, and you won't want to miss a minute. Here's when you can tune in:
First Semi-Final: Tuesday 13 May 2025, 21:00 CEST
Second Semi-Final:
Thursday 15 May 2025, 21:00 CEST
Grand Final: Saturday 17 May, 2025, 21:00 CEST
If one thing in life is true, it's that no two Eurovision Song Contests are the same. The 2025 Contest is packed full of brilliant songs, from yearning ballads to club anthems, and everything in between. You'll see a giant microphone, an exercise ball, and several boats. Get your Eurovision bingo cards at the ready.
You may have spotted our sneak peeks on Instagram and TikTok. And if you don't yet know your Shkodra Elektronike from your Ziferblat, now's the time to get to know the class of 2025 through our artist profiles. You'll find their biographies, song lyrics, and links to more stories.
If you haven't already got the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 playlist on loop, there's a remedy for that too. You can find all 37 songs on your favourite music service.
Tommy Cash representing Estonia in the Official Portrait Studio at St. Jakobshalle Corinne Cumming / EBU
First Semi-Final - Tuesday 13 May 2025, 21:00 CEST
The First Semi-Final of Eurovision 2025 will be in safe hands with our hosts, Hazel Brugger and
Sandra Studer. Hazel is a Swiss-American poet, comedian, and presenter, who will no doubt bring us that unbeatable Eurovision humour.
Sandra is a
Swiss TV presenter and singer, who represented Switzerland at the Contest in 1991 and landed in 5th place with the song Canzone Per Te.
The first of the Live Shows will have the theme Where It All Began, an homage to the Eurovision Song Contest's birthplace, Switzerland.
We'll see 15 artists compete for a spot in the Grand Final, with 10 going through. Alongside those competing, we'll also get to see Spain, Italy, and host country Switzerland performing their songs. As these three are guaranteed a place in the Grand Final, you won't be able to vote for them.
Running order:
1 🇮🇸 Iceland | VÆB - RÓA
2 🇵🇱 Poland | Justyna Steczkowska - GAJA
3 🇸🇮 Slovenia | Klemen - How Much Time Do We Have Left
4 🇪🇪 Estonia | Tommy Cash - Espresso Macchiato
🇪🇸 Spain |
Melody - ESA DIVA
5 🇺🇦 Ukraine |
Ziferblat - Bird of Pray
6 🇸🇪 Sweden | KAJ - Bara Bada Bastu
7 🇵🇹 Portugal | NAPA - Deslocado
8 🇳🇴 Norway |
Kyle Alessandro - Lighter
9 🇧🇪 Belgium | Red
Sebastian - Strobe Lights
Italy 🇮🇹
Lucio Corsi | Volevo Essere Un Duro
10 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan | Mamagama - Run With U
11 🇸🇲 San Marino |
Gabry Ponte - Tutta L'Italia
12 🇦🇱 Albania | Shkodra Elektronike - Zjerm
13 🇳🇱 Netherlands |
Claude - C'est La Vie
14 ðŸ‡ðŸ‡· Croatia | Marko BoÅ¡njak -
Poison Cake
🇨🇠Switzerland | Zoë Më - Voyage
15 🇨🇾 Cyprus | Theo Evan - Shh
Second Semi-Final - Thursday 15 May 2025, 21:00 CEST
Sandra and Hazel will be returning to our screens once again for the Second Semi-Final. This time, the theme will be Eurovision fans. So expect a huge party atmosphere, and prepare to be celebrated. Eurovision fans, your time has come.
As well as the 16 acts competing for one of 10 places in the Grand Final, we'll also get to see performances from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.
Running order:
1 🇦🇺 Australia | Go-Jo - Milkshake Man
2 🇲🇪 Montenegro | Nina Žižić - Dobrodošli
3 🇮🇪 Ireland | EMMY - Laika Party
4 🇱🇻 Latvia | Tautumeitas - Bur Man Laimi
5 🇦🇲 Armenia | PARG - SURVIVOR
6 🇦🇹 Austria | JJ - Wasted Love
🇬🇧 United Kingdom | Remember Monday - What The Hell Just Happened?
7 🇬🇷 Greece |
Klavdia - Asteromáta
8 🇱🇹 Lithuania | Katarsis - Tavo Akys
9 🇲🇹 Malta | Miriana Conte - SERVING
10 🇬🇪 Georgia | Mariam Shengelia - Freedom
🇫🇷 France |
Louane - maman
11 🇩🇰 Denmark | Sissal - Hallucination
12 🇨🇿 Czechia | ADONXS - Kiss Kiss Goodbye
13 🇱🇺 Luxembourg |
Laura Thorn - La Poupée Monte Le Son
14 🇮🇱
Israel | Yuval
Raphael - New Day Will Rise
🇩🇪 Germany |
Abor & Tynna - Baller
15 🇷🇸 Serbia | Princ - Mila
16 🇫🇮 Finland |
Erika Vikman - ICH KOMME
Grand Final - Saturday 17 May, 2025, 21:00 CEST
Nemo broke The Code and brought Eurovision back to Switzerland. By the night of the Eurovision Grand Final, it'll be time to find a new champion. And we can't wait to find out who will lift the trophy!
Hazel and
Sandra will be joined at the Grand Final by a third host, Michelle Hunziker, who's a well-known
Swiss personality. Together, the trio will guide us through the best night of the year, the Eurovision Grand Final. We'll be seeking answers to important questions - How Much Time Do We Have Left and What The Hell Just Happened? Remember Monday representing United Kingdom in the Official Portrait Studio at St. Jakobshalle Corinne Cumming / EBU
By the time the big night comes around, we'll know which 26 of the original 37 artists are competing in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 Grand Final.
The theme for this Live Show will be Let's Celebrate a New Winner - and by the end of the show, celebrate them we will.
As well as the competing songs, we'll also get to see some special performances. When they'll appear is currently Europe's best-kept secret.
As is Eurovision Song Contest tradition, our reigning champion Nemo will return to the Eurovision stage to remind us exactly why they took home that trophy in 2024, when they won with The Code.
A few other famous names will be taking to the stage in Switzerland, including two recent fan favourites - Croatia's
Baby Lasagna of Rim Tim Tagi Dim fame and Finland's Käärijä, who competed in 2023 with Cha Cha Cha. Both acts took second place at the Contest, but the two certainly won the hearts of viewers and now they've been invited back to hit the Eurovision stage in the country where it all began.
The Contest in Basel will also welcome some past
Swiss participants to sing for
Europe once more.
Paola (1969 and 1980), Peter, Sue & Marc (1971, 1976, 1979 and 1981), Luca Hänni (2019) and Gjon's
Tears (2020 and 2021) have been invited to take part in a special performance that celebrates Switzerland's Eurovision heritage.
And Gjon's Tears' involvement won't end there... The vocal talent who gave Switzerland a bronze-medal finish will also be part of another special collective of Eurovision stars; his contemporaries from the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.
The competition, which was cancelled due to the global COVID pandemic, had a whole lineup of performers hoping to represent their respective countries that May. Now, SRG SSR has invited some of them to Basel 2025. Destiny (Malta),
Efendi (Azerbaijan), The Roop (Lithuania) and Gjon's
Tears will all be heading to Basel to participate in an extra-special number, which remains hush hush for now!
Another group of acts being brought back under the spotlight at Basel 2025 is a selection of friendly faces that you definitely won't have forgotten. Malmö 2024 gave us some Eurovision icons for the ages, and you'll be seeing some of them again next week.
Jerry Heil (Ukraine),
Marina Satti (Greece), iolanda (Portugal) and Silvester Belt (Lithuania) will be marking one year since their Eurovision debuts by coming back and doing it all over again. Minus the competition part, of course; which will be nice for them.
Finally (perhaps), Basel couldn't allow a silver anniversary to pass by without celebrating. And so
Jørgen Olsen of The Olsen Brothers will be returning to the Eurovision stage 25 years after the duo won the Contest for Denmark at Stockholm 2000.
There's a lot to love here and, as a wise duo once said, on the wings of that love you shall be flown!
This is not a drill - three Live Shows are on the horizon. Now that you've got your dates in the diary, you'll want to know how to watch the shows.
If your country is participating in the Contest, you can tune into the Eurovision Song Contest through your local broadcaster or their website. Some other countries are joining the broadcast too.
All the Live Shows are available to watch on the official Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel, if it's available in your region.
Whatever you do, don't get so caught up in the moment that you forget to vote. You can support your favourite artists through the Official Eurovision Song Contest app, on the phone, or by SMS. Full details of when and where to vote are laid out in this handy and guide.
We love Eurovision so much, that we just can't get enough. Beyond the Live Shows, there are plenty more ways you can soak up the action.
