Everything you need to know about the Eurovision Song Contest 2025

Love it or hate it, the Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most-watched events across the world, as music lovers come together to celebrate song writing, and all round cheesy and let's face it, bonkers performances!

As we await the 69th ceremony, here's your ultimate guide to the 2025 contest, including the date, who is representing the UK, and of course, the location!

When is the Eurovision Song Contest?

The 2025 Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final is scheduled to take place on Saturday 17th May.

The two Semi-Finals will happen on Tuesday 13th and Thursday 15th May.

Where is Eurovision this year?

After Nemo was crowned the winner in 2024, the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Basel, Switzerland, at the St. Jakobshalle arena.

Who is representing the UK?

On Friday 7th March 2025, pop country girl band Remember Monday were unveiled as this year's UK Eurovision act.

Made up of vocalists Lauren Byrne, Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele, Remember Monday will perform a track called 'What The Hell Just Happened?'.

Remember Monday say of the news: “What The Hell Just Happened is exactly how we’re feeling right now! It’s all very surreal; our friendship goes so far back, and we definitely never imagined that we’d be doing anything like this. When you’re a kid and people ask you what you want to be when you grow up, an absolute classic is “I wanna be a pop star”, so the fact that we’re getting the chance to live that dream as three best friends is just wild.

"We’re going to be the first girlband to represent the UK since 1999, which feels like such a crazy honour. We’re going to bring loads of fun, energy and hopefully do something that you won’t have seen before on the Eurovision stage….We honestly can’t wait to experience this with all of the other incredible artists from around the world, and hopefully make everyone back at home feel proud! This is really the music World Cup and we’ll do our best to bring it home!”

How can I watch the Eurovision Song Contest?

Both Semi-Finals and the Grand Final will be available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

How long is Eurovision on for?

Strap in and get your food and drink supplies ordered, because the Eurovision Song Contest is a mammoth ordeal, lasting a huge four hours!

Which countries are taking part in 2025?

37 countries will take part in this year's Eurovision, including Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Moldova, Poland, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Israel, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Portugal, Australia, Georgia, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, Ukraine, North Macedonia, Albania, Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

31 countries will compete in the Semi-Finals, with France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom automatically getting a place in the Final as they are known as the 'big five'. Host country Switzerland will also get an automatic place in the Final.

10 countries from each Semi- Final will qualify for the final, following a public vote.

Semi-Final one performers:

The draw for the two Semi-Finals took place on 28th January 2025.

The first Semi-Final will take place on Tuesday 13th May and will feature performances from Sweden, Ukraine, Slovenia, Iceland, Estonia, Poland, Portugal, Netherlands, Azerbaijan, Albania, San Marina, Belgium, Cyprus, Croatia and Norway.

Semi-Final two performers:

The second Semi-Final will take place on Thursday 15th May and will feature performances from Austria, Lithuania, Armenia, Montenegro, Greece, Ireland, Australia, Latvia, Czechia, Israel, Malta, Finland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Georgia and Serbia.

Who is hosting this year?

Hazel Brugger, Sandra Studer and Michelle Hunziker will present the Grand Final, whilst Hazel and Sandra will also host the two Semi-Finals earlier in the week.

The Co-Executive Producers of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, Moritz Stadler and Reto Peritz, said: "For the world’s biggest show, it was important for us to recruit hosts who bring more than just presenting skills – Hazel, Sandra, and Michelle bring unique versatility with additional talents such as comedy, dance and singing. We are incredibly proud to have signed such impressive and diverse women as hosts."

It's understood Scott Mills and Rylan Clark will provide commentary for the two Semi-Finals here in the UK, whilst Graham Norton is expected to return for the Grand-Final.

When did Eurovision first start?

Eurovision first started way back in 1956, with the first ever contest taking place in Lugano, Switzerland. Taking place on 24th May 1956, the contest was held at the Teatro Kursaal, and was inspired by the Italian Sanremo Festival.

It was a lot different back then though, the contest lasted less than two hours, and only seven countries took part with two entrants each!

Lys Assia from Switzerland was crowned the first ever winner with her song 'Refrain'.

Who has won Eurovision the most?

In a fact which may left you in shock, Ireland have actually won the Eurovision Song Contest the most, along with Sweden. The countries have seven victories each.

UK, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have all won Eurovision five times.

Check out the most-watched Eurovision performances:

Now read:

Facts you probably didn’t know about the Eurovision Song Contest

A recap of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024

Test your Eurovision knowledge by identifying these performances

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