The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It consisted of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May and a final on 13 May 2017, held at the International Exhibition Centre in Kyiv, Ukraine, and presented by Oleksandr Skichko, Volodymyr Ostapchuk, and Timur Miroshnychenko. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC), which staged the event after its legal predecessor, the National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU), had won the for with the song "1944" by Jamala. It was the first contest since the inaugural edition without a female host.
Broadcasters from forty-two countries participated in the contest. and returned to the contest after a year's absence, while did not participate on financial grounds. had originally planned to participate, but later withdrew after its representative, Julia Samoylova, was banned from entering Ukraine by virtue of having travelled directly from Russia to Crimea, a region that was annexed by Russia in 2014, to give a performance, which is illegal under Ukrainian law.
The winner was with the song "", performed by Salvador Sobral and written by his sister Luísa Sobral. The song won both the jury vote and televote, and , , , and rounded out the top five. This was Portugal's first victory in 53 years of participation, the longest wait for victory by any participating country in Eurovision history. It was also the first winning song entirely performed in a country's native language since "Molitva" for . The top three countries – Portugal, Bulgaria and Moldova – all achieved their highest placings in their Eurovision history to that date, while host country received its worst placing to date, finishing 24th in the final.
The EBU reported that 182 million viewers watched the contest, 22 million fewer than the 2016 record.
Location
Venue The contest took place in the International Exhibition Centre in Kyiv, following Ukraine's victory at the 2016 contest with the song "1944", written and performed by Jamala. The International Exhibition Centre has a capacity of approximately 11,000 attendees and is the largest exhibition centre in Kyiv. Located in the western part of the Livoberezhna microdistrict, the centre was opened in October 2002, and its head since its construction was Anatoly Tkachenko.
Bidding phase After Ukraine's win in 2016, Viktoriia Romanova, Deputy Chief of host broadcaster Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC), announced that the first organisational meeting for the contest would take place before 8 June, and that the venue for the contest would be announced over the summer. UA:PBC and the Ukrainian government formally launched the bidding process for interested cities to apply to host the contest on 23 June, although on 30 June, Culture Minister Yevhen Nyshchuk stated that an appropriate venue for the contest does not exist in Ukraine, suggesting that the construction of a new venue in Kyiv or Lviv should be considered. Dnipro, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa submitted bids by 8 July, while Cherkasy, Irpin, Uzhhorod and Vinnytsia had previously declared their interest in hosting the contest but did not put forward formal applications.
On 20 July, a two-hour live discussion show titled "City Battle", moderated by Timur Miroshnychenko, saw representatives from each candidate city presenting their bids in front of a live studio audience, which included the organisational committee. UA:PBC announced on 22 July that the bids from Dnipro, Kyiv and Odesa had been shortlisted for further consideration. The final announcement was delayed multiple times, with Kyiv announced as the host city on 9 September.
Key
Host venue Shortlisted City Venue Notes Dnipro DniproEuroArena ‡ Proposal included the complete reconstruction of the Meteor Stadium and Sports Complex Meteor, which would have been completed by March 2017. Withdrew after the host city announcement was postponed for the fourth time. Kharkiv Metalist Oblast Sports Complex Hosted three group stage matches of UEFA Euro 2012. Would have required significant construction, including the addition of a roof. Kherson "Yuvileinyi" Concert Hall Proposal included expansion and reconstruction of the venue, which would have taken approximately 7–8 months. Kyiv Palace of Sports ‡ Hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 and the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009. May have conflicted with contest preparations as the venue hosted part of the 2017 IIHF World Championship Division I ice hockey tournament between 22 and 28 April 2017. International Exhibition Centre † Venue was initially submitted as a reserve. Kyiv later announced on 24 August 2016 that this was their preferred venue for staging the contest. Lviv Arena Lviv Hosted three of the group-stage games for UEFA Euro 2012. The arena required the construction of a roof. Unfinished venue An unfinished venue originally planned for EuroBasket 2015 that was 25% complete when construction halted. Odesa Chornomorets Stadium ‡ Proposal included plans for reconstruction of the venue and options for providing a covered roof.
Other sites
The Eurovision Village was the official Eurovision Song Contest fan and sponsors' area during the events week. There it was possible to watch performances by local artists, as well as the live shows broadcast from the main venue. Located at Independence Square in Kyiv, it was open from 4 to 14 May 2017.
The EuroClub was the venue for the official after-parties and private performances by contest participants. Unlike the Eurovision Village, access to the EuroClub was restricted to accredited fans, delegates, and press. It was located at the Parkovy Congress and Exhibition Center.
The "Red Carpet" event, where the contestants and their delegations are presented before the accredited press and fans, took place at Mariinskyi Palace in central Kyiv on 7 May 2017 at 19:00 CEST, followed by the Opening Ceremony at the Parkovy Congress and Exhibition Center.
Participants
Eligibility for potential participation in the Eurovision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active EBU membership capable of receiving the contest via the Eurovision network and broadcasting it live nationwide. The EBU issued an invitation to participate in the contest to all active members and associate member Australia.
Initially, on 31 October 2016, it was announced that forty-three countries were to participate in the contest, equalling the record set in and . and returned after a year's absence, while withdrew on financial grounds. had planned to participate but announced their withdrawal on 13 April 2017, after their representative, Julia Samoylova, was banned from entering Ukraine by virtue of travelling directly from Russia to Crimea, a region that was annexed by Russia in 2014, to give a performance, which is illegal under Ukrainian law. This subsequently reduced the number of participating countries to forty-two, the same number of countries as 2016.
The contest featured five representatives who also previously performed as lead vocalists for the same countries. Valentina Monetta, who performed in a duet this time, represented , , and . The duo of Koit Toome and Laura Põldvere have both represented Estonia in different years: Toome as a solo artist, finishing 12th place with the song "Mere lapsed", and Põldvere as part of Suntribe, finishing 20th in the semi-final with the song "Let's Get Loud". Omar Naber represented , finishing 12th in the semi-final with the song "Stop". This also made for one of the only occasions in which the same participants not only returned after originally competing in the same year, but also had both participations occur in the same host country (the only other recent example being , which saw both 's Anita Skorgan and 's Stella Maessen return to the United Kingdom for the second time after the ). SunStroke Project represented alongside Olia Tira, finishing 22nd with the song "Run Away".
The contest also featured the group Og3ne which previously represented the at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, as Lisa, Amy and Shelley, with the song "Adem in, adem uit". In addition, the contest featured two lead singers previously participating as backing vocalists for the same countries: Israel's representative Imri Ziv who backed Nadav Guedj in and Hovi Star in , and Serbia's representative Tijana Bogićević who backed Nina in .
+ Eurovision Song Contest 2017 participants Country Broadcaster Artist Song Language Songwriter(s) RTSH Lindita "World" English AMPTV Artsvik "Fly with Me" English SBS Isaiah "Don't Come Easy" English ORF Nathan Trent "Running on Air" English İTV Dihaj "Skeletons" English BTRC Naviband "Story of My Life" Belarusian Arciom Lukjanienka RTBF Blanche "City Lights" English BNT Kristian Kostov "Beautiful Mess" English HRT Jacques Houdek "My Friend" English, Italian CyBC Hovig "Gravity" English Thomas G:son ČT Martina Bárta "My Turn" English DR Anja "Where I Am" English ERR Koit Toome and Laura "Verona" English Sven Lõhmus Yle Norma John "Blackbird" English Alma "" French, English GPB Tamara Gachechiladze "Keep the Faith" English NDR Levina "Perfect Life" English ERT Demy "This Is Love" English MTVA Joci Pápai "" Hungarian József Pápai RÚV Svala "Paper" English RTÉ Brendan Murray "Dying to Try" English IBA Imri "I Feel Alive" English RAI Francesco Gabbani "" Italian LTV Triana Park "Line" English LRT Fusedmarc "Rain of Revolution" English MRT Jana Burčeska "Dance Alone" English PBS Claudia Faniello "Breathlessly" English TRM SunStroke Project "Hey Mamma" English RTCG Slavko Kalezić "Space" English AVROTROS Og3ne "Lights and Shadows" English NRK Jowst "Grab the Moment" English TVP Kasia Moś "Flashlight" English RTP Salvador Sobral "" Portuguese Luísa Sobral TVR Ilinca Alex Florea "Yodel It!" English SMRTV Valentina Monetta and Jimmie Wilson "Spirit of the Night" English RTS Tijana Bogićević "In Too Deep" English RTVSLO Omar Naber "On My Way" English RTVE Manel Navarro "Do It for Your Lover" Spanish, English SVT Robin Bengtsson "I Can't Go On" English SRG SSR Timebelle "Apollo" English UA:PBC O.Torvald "Time" English BBC Lucie Jones "Never Give Up on You" English
Other countries Active EBU members
– Russia had originally planned to participate in the contest with the song "Flame Is Burning", performed by Julia Samoylova. However, Channel One Russia withdrew from the contest on 13 April 2017, after Samoylova was issued a three-year travel ban by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) from entering Ukraine on 22 March, by virtue of illegally travelling directly from Russia to Crimea, a region that was annexed by Russia in 2014, in 2015 to give a performance. Active EBU member broadcasters in , , and confirmed non-participation prior to the announcement of the participants list by the EBU. BHRT, broadcaster for , did the same due to financial difficulties and non-payment of debts to the EBU totalling 6 million Swiss francs (€5.4 million); the EBU had already threatened to withdraw BHRT from all member services in May 2016, and in late 2016 they began to impose sanctions on the broadcaster for their pending debts. Despite initially stating their participation in the contest and efforts from non-governmental organizations aimed at their return in 2017, broadcaster TRT ultimately opted not to participate.
Associate EBU members Kazakh broadcaster Khabar Agency became an associate member of the EBU on 1 January 2016, opening up the possibility of their participation in 2017; however, Kazakhstan was not on the final list of participating countries announced by the EBU on 31 October 2016.
Non-EBU members