Off to... Malmö
(Also, I believe after Loreen won both times, when she was asked she said she wanted Stockholm and both times... they ignored her lmao)
Stockholm is defo a nicer city but i know a nice campground over the Öresund from when I was a kid that would be fun to stay at
I had a great time there in 2013 (and an ok time when we went to see a Melodifestivalen heat there in 2019), but was really hoping for Stockholm this time. I don't rate Malmö massively as a city, and there are no hotels left already, so realistically - as I did in 2013 - you have to stay over the bridge in Copenhagen and you're adding the cost of constantly going backwards and forwards on the train, and the difficulty getting back there in the early hours. We also have a friend who lives near Stockholm that we could have stayed with - never mind!
Still, Malmö did host it really well in 2013 so they've already got a very recent blueprint to return to and improve on. And it's a bigger venue than the Liverpool venue, so hopefully tickets will be slightly easier to get for rehearsals etc...
SO HAPPY! I took a risk after seeing Loreen perform on the Tuesday Semi Final family show, and booked a hotel in Malmo... and the guess came true! Now just praying they don't cancel it as it's £199 for 6 nights which is a STEAL compared to what it'll be now 
Makes sense after basically all of the Stockholm options were ruled out - Malmö is a pretty "safe" bet all told. Plus, lets be real, Stockholm will have another chance before too long I imagine!
The cheapest there now is thousands of pounds.Apparently the train over the bridge is 24 hours though so not so bad if can stay fairly close to the station in Copenhagen.
ALSO!!!
Eurovision haa revealed 24 countries have confirmed :// Only 24!! No UK, no Ukraine, no Ireland 
Gonna be a very small show unless a few more confirm before the deadline.
Gonna be a very small show unless a few more confirm before the deadline.sksksksksksk
Gonna be a very small show unless a few more confirm before the deadline.
Do we let him cook? 
North Macedonia are planning to return https://escxtra.com/2023/09/17/north-macedonia-to-return-to-eurovision-2024/ - broadcaster has a https://mrt.com.mk/sites/default/files/%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B3-%20%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%88%D0%BD%D0%B0%20%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B0%20%D0%B7%D0%B0%20%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B0%20%D0%BD%D0%B0%20%D0%88%D0%A0%D0%9F%20%D0%9C%D0%A0%D0%A2%20%D0%B7%D0%B0%202024%20%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0.pdf?__cf_chl_tk=lL6KiX.QJApOQR0oUV4ZJNDvvjgT.v1cbOGGF9LRl.k-1694934709-0-gaNycGzND7swith the intent to participate in Eurovision 2024 stated there.
good to see that they want to come back and I would guess they're on the confirmed list if this document is out there although their finances do look a little on the low side for what they've allocated for it.
Rina oe Ellie/ Calvin for next year!!!!
Multiple sources (French HoD, Albanian RTSH's general director (???) ) are claiming there are 41 countries participating in the end. We currently have 35 countries confirmed. Which 6 other countries do you think will join the list? Do you think we will have 41 countries?
North Macedonia looks likely to return. Australia, Armenia and Romania have not confirmed yet but I think they will participate. That leaves us with 2 spots, and Montenegro and Slovakia seem like the most likely returnees from what I've heard in my Eurovision circle.
Assuming it's not some misspeaking, and it might just be that, we may get to the list and it just has 38 or 39, it does take a reach to get to 41.
The 37 last year + Luxembourg (confirmed) + North Macedonia (reports look likely) + Montenegro (no info but only other country that is both an in-out participant and hasn't already confirmed out before now) only takes us to 40. To get us the last one we do have to be looking at someone who's already indicated they're not returning like Slovakia, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Hungary, Andorra, Turkey, Monaco or perhaps a debutant like Kazakhstan.
As Luxembourg was announced with such fanfare, if it's a returnee then it's probably some nation taking a long time to negotiate particulars with the EBU, which could be why the list isn't out yet. the Israel situation may also be contributing to the late publication but them withdrawing would mean needing to find 2 unlikely returnees to meet this 41 figure so I doubt it?
Turkey and Hungary I think we can say aren't in, A Dal's schedule is out with no mention of Eurovision and both have indicated it'd take a major shift in their political leadership before they return to the contest.
Andorra and Monaco are probably watching the Luxembourg participation.
Bosnia and Bulgaria are both on the 'we'll only enter if someone super rich personally funds the entry' train, so it could be one of them, more likely Bulgaria.
Slovakia already confirmed not in pretty early on as always - I am seeing a (potentially incredibly bullshit) instagram post about a previously announced non-participant 'regretting' announcing that so that could be them, but I'm placing no faith in it. I've often thought Czechia somehow keeping regular participation has to be getting them to notice but there's been no movement on it for so long.
Kazakhstan would be... odd. It's so much more obviously a nation outside of Europe than the Caucasus lot even if technically they have the same justification for participating. But if I had to pick a country from this list they'd be one of the more likely ones, strangely.
interestingly, the first odds for the contest are out - SkyBet has 41 countries listed, with Bulgaria as the non-participant (atm).
And Israel as leading currently. Which I'm very scared of, a single win, Ukraine, almost unquestionably based in politics is fine once in a while, two in quick succession, with a much more controversial participant would be incredibly messy, hence why I said in the politics thread on the subject that I'd rather they withdraw from stuff like this.
There's a sizeable population against Israel no? I don't think Israel will landslide win like Ukraine, but they will do well.
Less sympathy from the public on the whole, but you can't vote against a country, and a prominent Israeli entry will attract significant political attention the contest's way. Not to mention safety for the acts.
It's a minefield and not one I think the contest, nor an Israeli entrant*, would benefit from. Israel the country will because of geopolitical soft power though, which is why they'll probably not withdraw.
*and if they're incredibly IDF-brained like Noa, potentially the most controversial entrant ever and liable to split the fandom in half over whether to support them or not
The slogan has been announced, not just for Eurovision 2024 but all future Eurovision 
I think Bulgaria would be the most likely to be a 41st country, and I'd rather them not bother if it's just going to be another Intelligent Music Project. With Kazakhstan not even taking part in Junior Eurovision this year, I think the days of hoping for them to appear in the main contest may be over. 
Not a fan of them re-using the "United by Music" slogan every contest from now on, I hope it's a decision the EBU may go back on in a year or two. Have Sweden just run out of ideas given they're tasked with hosting so often xx It was a perfect fit for 2023, both as a pun because the UK were hosting, but because it was a collaborative hosting with Ukraine. I know the slogans are always basic, but I feel it removes some of the opportunity that a first time winner could have to give their hosting a 'unique identity', and the slogans can be a package with the visual theme which I assume will still be different for each contest.
I agree on the slogans, it's dumb and corporate. 'Open Up' turned out to be a great slogan for 2021 if by accident, 'United By Music' was a good one in its own right and now it's going to feel less associated with 2023 in retrospect.
Though it's not like they were ever literary genius and they've definitely trended towards wanting them to sound more professional in recent years so I get the EBU moving towards control over it. I'd still prefer a different one each time though.
Tickets on sale on TUESDAY x
I feel like every year I make a have I/haven't I got tickets post, and I hoped that this time it would be a bit more relaxed (just as Stockholm 2016 was) as we're finally back to a November release after a few years where the tickets were put on sale much closer to the contest, but...yeah, no. 172,000 in the queue at 9am UK time and I'm only just below 100,000 now.
It really does seem like the 2010s days of just casually getting a ticket on the day they go on sale and flights and accommodation still being normally priced is a thing of the past now. Admittedly two of the easier years I got everything I wanted were when it was held in Ukraine and Israel (both in a safer environment than now) but even for Stockholm and Lisbon it was never this much of a scrum. I've got my flights and room booked so I guess I'll be watching from a Eurovillage in Malmo - or even better if there's one in Copenhagen so I don't have any problems getting back to my Danish hotel at whatever time it finishes!
Today has been the most ridiculous setup for a ticket I've ever known. Got tickets for the Semi Final 2 Jury Show (possibly restricted view as it's a tad behind the stage) and I'm still in the queue for others now, nearly 4 hours later. There's just no way 400,000 people were supposedly queuing for a Semi 1 family show, so something really weird has gone on.
EDIT: Got tickets for Semi Final 1 Jury Show too, so we'll see everyone perform! I'm sweating, as if this has been going on since 9am
I was nr 35.000 at 10 CET, was in queue until 12:10 CET. Did not get any tickets at all...
37 have confirmed, pending on Romania. Shocked to see North Macedonia not on the list
https://twitter.com/esc_macedonia/status/1732054855362007047
I might be reading too much into this but possibly part of the reason for the delay on the list announcement is that they had allocated a budget for it, but it wasn't enough for the EBU, and NM were trying to negotiate a cheaper participation fee but failed. Probably similar for Romania (and with multiple countries in this position, more likely for the EBU to delay), but it's getting late so they had to announce it, and there's still a potential path to participation for Romania, but not for N Mac.
Out of nowhere a ton of tickets for the Afternoon Rehearsal of the Grand Final suddenly appeared today for about £70 each, so that’s my first tickets secured since Turin 2022!
(they’re high up and still crazy prices for a rehearsal compared to a few years ago, but I’m fine with that as I can just go back to my Copenhagen hotel that evening if needed to watch the real thing!)
Theme art revealed:
https://eurovision.tv/story/eurovision-2024-theme-art-revealed
Stage design revealed
The sale of tickets was extremely hectic again this year. I agree with a previous poster that the days of securing a ticket relatively easily on the first day are long gone. I really wish I'd realised a few years ago when I got tickets to Copenhagen 2014 that it would never be that easy again.
The drama and chaos aside, we have secured tickets for a semi-final show in Malmo which will be our fourth Eurovision (and third consecutive) 
EBU clarified the use of autotune during Eurovision:
https://eurovoix.com/2024/01/07/ebu-clarifies-rules-around-autotune-at-eurovision/
We might get our first country to withdraw due to Israel
https://eurovision.tv/story/eurovision-2024-semi-final-draw-results
Semi-final draw results:
THRILLED to have Petra back
Thank f*** for that. Excited for Petra‘s hosting hatrick
Thanks to a surprise release of tickets at about 8am this morning(!) I'm now going to my first live grand final since 2019 
Slightly broke but hopefully I can resell my afternoon rehearsal tickets on Ticketmaster to get some of the money back!
Wow congratulations! Do you check regularly or did you get a notification they were available?
I think it's very unlikely I'll be going unless some uber cheap 'audio seats' at the back appear, just dished out £400 already today on car repairs 
For comparison, Stockholm 2016 had a 24 hour metro service (a scrum but got home eventually), Kiev '17 one of the stewards helped call a taxi for me, Lisbon '18 I could just walk back to my hostel and Tel Aviv '19 had a free bus service that took me back to the city centre.
When I checked for after my Molly Sandén/MF double header a couple of weeks ago the trains ran right through the night and the Copenhagen metro was also 24hr. Super handy
Details about the main venues in Malmö have been released:
I struggle to think it doesn’t sink Ireland, honestly.
This is gonna be a two horse race between Italy and San Marino for winner
definitely an opinion that was made
No changes in the voting procedure according to norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen. In an email sent out by the EBU to NTB, the winner will be chosen by 50/50 voting like last year and the 10 qualifiers from each semi by 100% televoting.
https://eurovision.tv/story/big-five-sweden-perform-semi-finals
News roundup:
Sweden drawn to open the show
EasyJet are the official flight partner, and they've coaxed Scooch out of retirement again.
GIRLIES, I'm (ambitiously) prepped for next years possibilities.
If Switzerland win... I will not be going, what an expensive place.
If Croatia win... I have apartments booked in Zagreb for both the first 2 weeks in May.
If Italy win... I have apartments booked in Milan for both the first 2 weeks in May. Obviously could be anywhere but it's where rumours suspect.
If Ukraine win, then who the hell knows and if anything else happens, it'll be quite the surprise I guess x
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