The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

. It took place in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by

Salvador Sobral Salvador Vilar Braamcamp Sobral (; born 28 December 1989) is a Portuguese singer, who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 for with the song "", written and composed by his sister, Luísa Sobral. In doing so, he gave its first ever win in t ...

. Organised by the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

(EBU) and host broadcaster (RTP), the contest was held at the

MEO Arena MEO Arena (formerly Altice Arena; also referred to by its former name, Pavilhão Atlântico) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Lisbon, Portugal. The arena is among the largest indoor arenas in Europe and the largest in Portugal with a capacity ...

, and consisted of two semi-finals on 8 and 10 May, and a final on 12 May 2018. The three live shows were presented by Portuguese television presenters

Filomena Cautela Filomena José Dias Fernandes Cautela (born 16 December 1984) is a Portuguese television presenter and actress. Cautela started her acting career in the theatre in the year 2000. In 2004, she made her debut in cinema, and in 2005, she was cast as ...

Sílvia Alberto Sílvia Alberto (born 18 May 1981) is a Portuguese television presenter and actress, currently employed by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. She began her career in 2000, presenting ''Clube Disney'' on RTP1. She was one of the hosts of the 2018 ...

and

Catarina Furtado Catarina Cardoso Garcia da Fonseca Furtado (born 25 August 1972) is a Portuguese television presenter, actress and UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador. She is a daughter of RTP journalist Joaquim Furtado. Career Throughout her career on television w ...

, and Portuguese-American actress

Daniela Ruah Daniela Sofia Korn Ruah Olsen (born December 2, 1983) is an American-Portuguese actress and film director best known for playing NCIS Special Agent Kensi Blye in the CBS police procedural series '' NCIS: Los Angeles''. Early life Ruah was born ...

, marking the first time that the contest was presented by four hosts. Forty-three countries participated in the contest, equalling the record of the and editions. returned after their absence from the previous edition, and for the first time since , no country that participated in the previous edition withdrew. The winner was with the song "

Toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and p ...

", performed by

Netta ''Netta'' is a genus of diving ducks. The name is derived from Greek ''Netta'' "duck". Unlike other diving ducks, the ''Netta'' species are reluctant to dive, and feed more like dabbling ducks. These are gregarious ducks, mainly found on fresh ...

and written by

Doron Medalie Doron Medalie (; born 5 December 1977) is an Israeli songwriter, composer and artistic director. He co-wrote the song "Toy", which was performed by Netta Barzilai and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. Biography Doron Medalie was raised in Ra ...

and Stav Beger. , , , and rounded out the top five, with Cyprus achieving its best result to date. Israel won the public vote, and came third in the jury vote behind Austria and . Further down the table, the also achieved its best result to date, finishing sixth. The EBU reported that 186 million viewers watched the contest, surpassing the 2017 edition by over 4 million.

Location

Venue

The

is a multi-purpose indoor arena built for the

Expo '98 Expo '98 (1998 Lisbon Specialised Expo) was an official specialised World's Fair held in Lisbon, Portugal from Friday, 22 May to Wednesday, 30 September 1998. The theme of the fair was "The Oceans, a Heritage for the Future", chosen in part to c ...

and has a capacity of 20,000 attendees, making it the largest indoor venue in Portugal and among the largest in Europe. It is located in the

Parque das Nações The Parque das Nações (; ''Park of the Nations''), colloquially known as Expo (as the site of the 1998 Lisbon World Exposition), is a (civil parish) and typical Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter of Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal. Loca ...

(Park of Nations) riverside district in the northeast of Lisbon, which was completely renovated to host the 1998

world's fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

. It is connected by

metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

to the nearby

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

and by train ( Oriente Station) to the rest of the country and Europe.

Bidding phase

On the day of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 final, it was reported that Portuguese broadcaster (RTP) would accept the challenge of organising the 2018 contest in case of a victory. Following Sobral's triumph, the

(EBU)'s Executive Supervisor for the Eurovision Song Contest,

Jon Ola Sand Jon Ola Sand (; born 21 December 1961) is a Norway, Norwegian television executive. He was the European Broadcasting Union's Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest from Eurovision Song Contest 2011, 2011 to Eurovision Song Contest 20 ...

, issued the hosting invitation to RTP during the winner's press conference. The following day, the director-general of RTP, Nuno Artur Silva, confirmed that the broadcaster would organise the contest in 2018 and mentioned the Lisbon Arena as a likely venue to host the contest. On 15 May 2017, RTP appeared to have confirmed Lisbon as the host city, but clarified the following day that no final decision had been taken regarding both the host city and venue. The basic requirements to select a host city were set out in a document presented by the EBU to RTP following their win in Kyiv: *A suitable venue that can accommodate around 10,000 spectators. *An international press centre for 1,500 journalists with adequate facilities for all the delegates. *A good distribution of hotel rooms, at different price categories, able to accommodate at least 2,000 delegates, accredited journalists and spectators. *An efficient transport infrastructure, including a nearby international airport with readily available connections with the city, venue, and hotels. Besides Lisbon, other cities signalled their interest in bidding to host the 2018 contest:

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

, Espinho, Faro, Gondomar,

Guimarães Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved ...

, and

Santa Maria da Feira Santa Maria da Feira () is a city and a concelho, municipality in Aveiro District in Portugal, 23 km from central Porto. The population in 2011 was 139,309, The mayor of

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

Rui Moreira Rui de Carvalho de Araújo Moreira (born 8 August 1956) is a Portuguese businessman and politician, currently serving as Mayor of Porto since 2013. While officially an independent, he has been supported by the CDS – People's Party since 2013 ...

, declared he would not be interested in "spending millions of euros" to host the contest, but he would support a bid from the

Metropolitan Area of Porto The Porto Metropolitan Area (; abbreviated as AMP) is a metropolitan area in northern Portugal centered on the City of Porto, Portugal's second largest city.Fernanda Paula Oliveira (2009), The metropolitan area, covering 17 municipalities, is th ...

(Espinho, Gondomar, and Santa Maria da Feira). On 13 June 2017, RTP representatives met with the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group at the EBU headquarters in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. During the meeting, RTP officials attended a workshop covering several topics related with hosting the Eurovision Song Contest and learned from the experience of the Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC. They also had the opportunity to present their first plans for the 2018 contest, including multiple proposals for the host city and venue. On 25 July 2017, the EBU and RTP announced that Lisbon had been selected as the host city, overcoming confirmed bids from Braga, Gondomar, Guimarães, and Santa Maria da Feira. In addition, RTP indicated the Parque das Nações, where the Lisbon Arena is located, as the site for the shows. Key: Host venue

Other sites

The Eurovision Village was the official Eurovision Song Contest fan and sponsors area during the event weeks, where it was possible to watch performances by contest participants and local artists, as well as the live shows broadcast from the main venue. It was located in Lisbon's downtown

Praça do Comércio The Praça do Comércio (; ) is a large, harbour-facing plaza in Portugal's capital, Lisbon, and is one of the largest in Portugal, with an area of 175 by 175 m (574 by 574 ft), that is, 30,600 m2 (329,000 ft2). Facing the Tagus () to the South, ...

(also called ''Terreiro do Paço''), a large central square open to the

Tagus river The Tagus ( ; ; ) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales between Cuenca and Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally westward, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Lisbon. Name T ...

. 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, delegations, and press. It was located at the "Ministerium" club, next to the Eurovision Village. The "Blue Carpet" event, where all the contestants and their delegations are presented before the accredited press and fans, took place on 6 May 2018 at the

Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology The Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology or MAAT () (MAAT) is a museum in Lisbon, Portugal. The Museum MAAT is a cultural project for the city Lisbon that is focused on three areas - Art, Architecture, and Technology. The €20m museum ...

(MAAT) in Lisbon's

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará), often called Belém of Pará, is the capital and largest city of the state of Pará in the north of B ...

district. This preceded the official Opening Ceremony of the 2018 contest, which took place at the nearby

Electricity Museum Tejo Power Station (the old Electricity Museum, in Portuguese Museu da Electricidade) is a cultural centre that presents the evolution of energy with a Museum of Science and Industrial Archaeology concept, where themed and experimental exhibit ...

Participants

Eligibility for participation in the Eurovision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active EBU membership, or a special invitation from the EBU as in the case of Australia. It was initially announced on 7 November 2017 that forty-two countries would participate in the contest. confirmed their return after their absence the previous edition, while 's participation was provisionally blocked by the EBU due to unpaid debts by its national broadcaster MRT. However, ten days later, it was announced that Macedonia would be allowed to enter the contest, raising the number of participating countries to forty-three, equaling the highest number of participants with the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

editions.

Returning artists

The contest featured two representatives who also previously performed as lead vocalists for the same countries.

Alexander Rybak Alexander Igorevich Rybak (; born 13 May 1986) or Alyaksandr Iharavich Rybak () is a Belarusian-born Norwegian musician and actor. Based in Oslo, Norway, Rybak extensively worked on television programs and on tours in Europe, particularly in S ...

won for

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in performing "

Fairytale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful being ...

" (and also sang entry No. 1500) and Waylon placed second for the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in as part of

The Common Linnets The Common Linnets are a Netherlands, Dutch band that was formed in 2013. The band originally consisted of Ilse DeLange and Waylon (Dutch singer), Waylon. DeLange has stated that the group is a platform for Dutch artists to make country, America ...

performing "

Calm After the Storm "Calm After the Storm" is a song by Dutch country rock duo The Common Linnets –Ilse DeLange and Waylon–, composed and written by DeLange herself, JB Meijers, Rob Crosby, Matthew Crosby, and Jake Etheridge. It at the Eurovision Song Contes ...

". The contest also featured

Jessica Mauboy Jessica Hilda Mauboy (; born 4 August 1989) is an Australian singer. Born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, she rose to fame in 2006 on the Australian Idol (season 4), fourth season of ''Australian Idol'', where she was runner-up and s ...

, representing

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, after taking part in 2014 as the interval act for the second semi-final, performing "

Sea of Flags "Sea of Flags" is a song by Australian recording artist Jessica Mauboy. It was written by Mauboy, Ilan Kidron and Stuart Crichton who also served as producer of the track. The song was performed live by Mauboy on 8 May 2014 at its debut during t ...

". In addition, the contest featured four lead singers previously participating as backing vocalists, two of them for the same countries.

Lea Sirk Lea Sirk (born 1 September 1989) is a Slovenian singer, who represented her country in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2018. Biography She started her musical education at the age of five in Koper, Slovenia. Between 2001 and 2007, Lea participa ...

backed for

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

in 2014 and off-stage in , and

Equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun appears directly above the equator, rather than to its north or south. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise directly east and set directly west. This occurs twice each year, arou ...

member Vlado Mihailov backed for

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

in 2017.

Cesár Sampson Cesár Sampson (born 18 August 1983) is an Austrian singer, songwriter, producer, dancer and model. He was also a social worker and fitness coach. He represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song " Nobody but You", winnin ...

, representing

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, backed for Bulgaria in 2016 (also as a dancer) and off-stage in .

SuRie Susanna Marie Cork (born 18 February 1989), known professionally as SuRie, is an English singer and songwriter. She was born in Harlow, Essex, and raised in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. Early life and career SuRie was born Susanna Marie C ...

, representing the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, backed for

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in (also as a dancer) and was the musical director again for Belgium in 2017.

Sara Tavares Sara Alexandra Lima Tavares (; 1 February 1978 – 19 November 2023) was a Portuguese singer, composer, guitarist and percussionist. She was born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal. Second-generation Portuguese of Cape Verdean descent, she comp ...

, who performed in the interval act, was the representative from Portugal in the

1994 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 was the 39th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 30 April 1994 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RTÉ), and presented ...

, with the song "

Chamar a música The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 was the 39th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 30 April 1994 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RTÉ), and presented ...

" reaching 8th place.

Other countries

Active EBU members

Active EBU member broadcasters in , and confirmed non-participation prior to the announcement of the participants list by the EBU. Despite hopes expressed by past representatives

Sertab Erener Sertab Erener (born 4 December 1964) is a Turkish singer, songwriter and composer. With her coloratura soprano voice, she started working as a backing vocalist for Sezen Aksu, and with Aksu's help she released her first studio album in the 1990s ...

(

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

winner),

Hadise Hadise Açıkgöz (born 21 October 1985) hadisemusic.com is a Belgian-born Turkish singer, songwriter, dancer and television personality. Born and raised in Belgium, her family is of Lezgins, Lezgin-Kumyks, Kumyk origin who settled in Sivas Pr ...

(

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

) and

maNga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

(

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

), Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey

Bekir Bozdağ Bekir Bozdağ (born 1 April 1965) is a Turkish lawyer and politician of Kurdish origin and former Minister of Justice. On 6 July 2011 he was appointed the Deputy Prime Minister in the third cabinet of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. On ...

and Turkish broadcaster TRT denied any plans for a return of the country.

Associate EBU members

broadcaster

Khabar Agency The Khabar Agency (KA) (, ; ) is a major media outlet in Kazakhstan. It was established in 1995, known originally as the National Television News Agency (Khabar is ''News'' in Kazakh). It is currently one of the largest networks in the country, a ...

became an associate member of the EBU on 1 January 2016. This opened up the possibility of their participation since 2017, under the condition of a special invitation, as for Australia. The country was not invited in 2017 but broadcast all the shows.

Turkvision Song Contest 2014 The Turkvision Song Contest 2014 () was the second edition of the Turkvision Song Contest, which took place in Kazan in the region of Tatarstan. Twenty-four Turkic regions, which have either a large Turkic population or a widely spoken Turkic la ...

winner Zhanar Dugalova expressed interest in representing her country at the 2018 contest; however, the country was not invited in 2018 either and it did not appear on the final list of participants.

Non-EBU members

broadcaster RTK, with the support of national broadcasters across the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

(except for and ), expressed hopes to become an EBU member in order to debut at the 2018 contest; however, the EBU clarified that this was not possible due to the limited international recognition of Kosovo and the country not being a UN member.

Production

Visual design

The theme for the contest, "All Aboard!", was unveiled on 7 November 2017 in a press conference held at the

Lisbon Oceanarium The Lisbon Oceanarium (, ) is an oceanarium in Lisbon, Portugal. It is located in the ''Parque das Nações'', which was the exhibition grounds for the Expo '98. It is one of the largest indoor aquariums in Europe and approximately 1 million peop ...

. Its visual design features oceanic motifs that allude to Lisbon and Portugal's location on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

coast and to the country's seafaring history. Alongside the main emblem, which depicts a stylised

seashell A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. Most seashells are made by Mollusca, mollusks, such as snails, clams, and oysters ...

, twelve supplemental emblems were designed to symbolise different aspects of the marine ecosystem.

Stage design

The Flag Parade at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

The stage design for the 2018 contest was revealed on 5 December 2017 and was designed by German production designer Florian Wieder, who also devised the stage concepts for the 2011–12, 2015 and 2017 contests. Drawing inspiration from Portugal's nautical heritage and culture, the circular stage consisted of a series of overhead

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...

edge-lit

concentric circles In geometry, two or more objects are said to be ''concentric'' when they share the same center. Any pair of (possibly unalike) objects with well-defined centers can be concentric, including circles, spheres, regular polygons, regular polyhe ...

depicting an

armillary sphere An armillary sphere (variations are known as spherical astrolabe, armilla, or armil) is a model of objects in the sky (on the celestial sphere), consisting of a spherical framework of rings, centered on Earth or the Sun, that represent lines o ...

, with 28 pairs of 4.5m × 13.5m vertical wooden 'ribs' at the rear of the stage to represent

sea waves In fluid dynamics, a wind wave, or wind-generated water wave, is a surface wave that occurs on the free surface of bodies of water as a result of the wind blowing over the water's surface. The contact distance in the direction of the wind is k ...

. Unlike in previous years, RTP decided against implementing

LED screen A LED display is a flat panel display that uses an array of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as pixels for a video display. Their brightness allows them to be used outdoors where they are visible in the sun for store signs and billboards. In ...

s or projections into the stage design, influenced by the stage performance of "

Amar pelos dois "" (; English: "To Love for the Both of Us") is a song recorded by Portuguese singer Salvador Sobral. The song was written and produced by his sister Luísa Sobral and released for digital download as a single on 10 March 2017 by Sons em Trâ ...

" the year prior and Sobral's comments upon receiving the winner's trophy, where he stated "music isn't fireworks, music is feeling." The decision was not embraced by all participating countries; some delegations opted to continue using video content, computer-generated graphics and "more

rops Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS) is a football club founded in 1950 and based in Rovaniemi, Finland. RoPS played in the Finnish Premier Division, (''Veikkausliiga'') for 32 years, from 1981 to 2021. In 2021, RoPS withdrew from professional football ...

than ever before" during performances, which was met by mixed reaction.

Postcards

The postcards, filmed between March and April 2018, involved the act emerging from a door into Portugal to take part in a themed activity, such as

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

, making a salad or ''

pastel de nata (; : ) is a Portuguese egg custard tart pastry, optionally dusted with cinnamon. Outside Portugal, they are particularly popular in other parts of Western Europe, Asia and former Portuguese colonies, such as Brazil, Mozambique, Macau, Goa, ...

'', or visiting popular attractions. The location where the activity took place was written in Portuguese at the start of the postcard. At the end of the postcard, the act posed for the camera, the slogan's hashtag appeared on the bottom corner of the screen, and song information was printed onto the country's flag. All the postcards had the same score, composed by Luis Figueredo. * Aveiro *

Grândola Grândola (, ) is a town (''vila'') and municipality in Setúbal District in Portugal. The population in 2021 was 13,822, in an area of . Besides the town of Grândola, it includes areas such as Tróia (part of Carvalhal parish), a peninsula betw ...

Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best-known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed ...

Monsaraz Monsaraz is a civil parish (''freguesia'') of the municipality of Reguengos de Monsaraz, on the right margin of the Guadiana River in the Portuguese Alentejo region, near its border with Spain. The population in 2011 was 782, in an area of 88.29& ...

, Lisbon *

Tagus River The Tagus ( ; ; ) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales between Cuenca and Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally westward, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Lisbon. Name T ...

, Lisbon * Lisbon * * *

Podence Podence is a former Freguesia (Portugal), civil parish in the municipality (''concelho'') of Macedo de Cavaleiros, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Podence e Santa Combinha. The population in 2011 was 250, in an area of 14 ...

Mafra Mafra is a Czech media group that publishes printed and internet media, headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic. From 2013 to 2023, it was a subsidiary of Agrofert holding conglomerate owned by trust of Andrej Babiš, the former Prime Ministe ...

Sintra Sintra (, ), officially the Town of Sintra (), is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2021 was 385,654, in an area of . Sintra is one of the ...

Albufeira Albufeira (, ), officially the City of Albufeira (), is a List of cities in Portugal, city and Concelho, municipality of Faro District in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2021 was 44,158, in an area of . The city proper ...

Viana do Castelo Viana do Castelo () is a concelho, municipality and seat of the district of Viana do Castelo District, Viana do Castelo in the Norte Region, Portugal, Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2021 was 85,778, in an area of . The urbanized are ...

* Lisbon * Calheta *

Ílhavo Ílhavo (), officially the City of Ílhavo (), is a city and municipality located in the Aveiro District of central Portugal. The population in 2021 was 39,239, in an area of 73.48 km2. The Municipality of Ílhavo includes four parishes and t ...

* Óbidos *

Eduardo VII Park Edward VII Park () is a public park in Lisbon, Portugal. The park occupies an area of to the north of Avenida da Liberdade and Marquis of Pombal Square in Lisbon's city center. The park is named for King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, who v ...

and Museu da Marioneta, Lisbon *

Porto Santo Island Porto Santo Island () is a Portuguese island and municipality northeast of Madeira Island in the North Atlantic Ocean; it is the northernmost and easternmost island of the archipelago of Madeira, located in the Atlantic Ocean west of Europe a ...

* A rooftop bar, Lisbon *

* Benagil *

Caramulo Caramulo is a town in Portugal. It is part of the civil parish of Guardão in the municipality of Tondela, Portugal. In Caramulo is housed one of the most important motor vehicle museums in Portugal. Among the exhibits are some very rare cars in ...

* Palace of the Marquises of Fronteira, Lisbon *

Alter do Chão Alter do Chão () is a municipality in the District of Portalegre in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 3,562, in an area of 362.07 km2. The present Mayor is Francisco Miranda, elected by a centre-right coalition of the Social Democratic ...

Vidago Vidago is a village and a former-civil parish in the municipality of Chaves, in the Portuguese district of Vila Real. Until its merger into the parish of Vidago, Arcossó, Selhariz e Vilarinho das Paranheiras, the civil parish administered an ar ...

* A

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

, Lisbon * Lisbon * Lisbon *

Ericeira Ericeira () is a civil parish and seaside community on the western coast of Portugal (in Mafra municipality, located 35km northwest of the center of Lisbon, about 45km by road) considered the surfing capital of Europe. It is also one of only two ...

* Tagus River * Arouca *

, Lisbon *

Funchal Funchal () officially Funchal City (), is the capital, largest city and a Municipality (Portugal), municipality in Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it ...

* A

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the cultivation and production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feat ...

, Porto *

Faial Island Faial Island (), also known as Fayal Island, is a Portugal, Portuguese island of the Central Group or ''Grupo Central'' of the Azores, in the Atlantic Ocean. The Capelinhos volcano is the westernmost point of the island and is considered the we ...

São Miguel Island São Miguel Island (; ), nicknamed "The Green Island" (), is the largest and most populous island in the Portugal, Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The island covers and has around 140,000 inhabitants, with 45,000 people residing in Ponta D ...

Serra da Estrela Serra da Estrela (, ) is the highest mountain range in Continental Portugal. Together with the Serra da Lousã it is the westernmost constituent range of the Sistema Central and also one of the highest in the system. It includes mainland Portuga ...

* Porto *

Vila Nova de Milfontes Vila Nova de Milfontes is a town and civil parish (''freguesia'') in the municipality (''concelho'') of Odemira, in the Alentejo region in Portugal. The population in 2021 was 5,653, in an area of 76.48 km2. History One of the older parish ...

* São Miguel Island

Presenters

RTP and EBU announced on 8 January 2018, that the contest would be hosted for the first time by four female presenters, consisting of RTP hosts

, and

, together with actress

. It was the first time since that the contest did not feature a male presenter, and the second consecutive year that the presenters were all the same gender. It was confirmed on 4 May 2018 that Cautela would also host the

green room In show business, the green room is the space in a theatre, or a similar venue, that functions as a waiting room and lounge for Performing arts, performers before, during, and after a performance or show when they are not engaged on Stage (thea ...

. The Blue Carpet opening ceremony was hosted by actress , radio host , actor/TV host and actor/director . Granger and Penim moderated the press conferences, as well.

Format

Voting system changes

On 27 April 2018, the EBU announced changes to the jury voting system for the 2018 contest. Each ranking position between first and last would be assigned a predefined value, starting with the value of 12 for a first rank and decreasing exponentially for lower ranks. The sum of these scores for all twenty-six songs from the five jury members then create the national jury result for each participating country. The exponential weight model gives more weight to higher-ranked songs, thereby lessening the impact of an individual juror placing a song lower in their rankings on the final result.

Semi-final allocation draw

The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on 29 January 2018 at 13:00

CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast En ...

, at the

Lisbon City Hall The Lisbon City Hall (, ) is the seat of the Lisbon municipal government. The building is located in the City Square (''Praça do Município''), Santa Maria Maior (Lisbon), Santa Maria Maior, Lisbon. It houses the Lisbon City Council. Built in th ...

. The thirty-seven semi-finalists were divided over six pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the contest's official televoting partner Digame. The purpose of drawing from different pots was to reduce the chance of "

bloc voting Block or bloc voting refers to a class of electoral systems where multiple candidates are elected simultaneously. They do not guarantee minority representation and allow a group of voters (a voting bloc) to ensure that only their preferred candi ...

" and to increase suspense in the semi-finals. The draw also determined which semi-final each of the six automatic qualifiers – host country Portugal and " Big Five" countries , , , and the – would broadcast and vote in. The ceremony was hosted by contest presenters Sílvia Alberto and Filomena Cautela, and included the passing of the host city insignia from

Vitali Klitschko Vitalii Volodymyrovych Klychko (; ; born 19 July 1971), known as Vitali Klitschko, is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer. He serves as mayor of Kyiv,Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

(host city of the previous contest) to

Fernando Medina Fernando Medina Maciel Almeida Correia (born 10 March 1973) is a Portuguese economist and politician Socialist Party (PS) who served as Minister of Finance in the government of Prime Minister António Costa from 2022 to 2024. He previously served ...

, mayor of Lisbon. With the approval from the contest's reference group, Italy broadcast and voted in the second semi-final following a request from Italian broadcaster

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

, as the date of the first semi-final coincided with the scheduled final of the fifth season of ''

The Voice of Italy ''The Voice of Italy'' is a reality singing competition and Italian version of the international syndication '' The Voice'' based on the reality singing competition launched in the Netherlands, created by Dutch television producer John de Mol Jr ...

''.

Contest overview

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final took place on 8 May 2018 at 20:00

WEST West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

(21:00

CEST CEST or cest may refer to: * Central European Summer Time (UTC+2), daylight saving time observed in the central European time zone * Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory * Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer, a subset of Magnetization transfer in M ...

). Nineteen countries participated in this semi-final, with the running order published on 3 April 2018. Israel won the most points, followed by Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Austria, Estonia, Ireland, Bulgaria, Albania, Lithuania and Finland. The countries that failed to reach the final were Azerbaijan, Belgium, Switzerland, Greece, Armenia, Belarus, Croatia, Macedonia, and Iceland. All the countries competing in this semi-final were eligible to vote, plus , , and the . The interval, which solely consisted of pre-recorded segments, included a performance of "" by entrants

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'', an upcoming film by Sally Potter * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' ( ...

, Blanche,

Kristian Kostov Kristian Konstantinov Kostov (; born 15 March 2000) is a Bulgarian-Russian singer.He has a double citizenship: Russian and Bulgarian.Sources:1. Quote: "''17-летний участник «Евровидения» родился в Москве ...

Manel Navarro Manel Navarro Quesada (born 7 March 1996) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Do It for Your Lover" and finished last in the final. Career 2014–16: Early beginnings Nava ...

Martina Bárta Martina Bárta (; born 1 September 1988) is a Czech jazz singer and musician. A vocalist and a French horn player, she was part of the Frankfurt am Main-based jazz band 4 To The Bar. She also had a role in the musical ''Robin Hood'' and worked w ...

Norma John Norma John is a Finnish pop music duo consisting of pianist Lasse Piirainen and vocalist Leena Tirronen. Tirronen previously placed third on season one of '' X Factor Suomi''. They represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 The E ...

, and

Svala Svala Björgvinsdóttir (born 8 February 1977), professionally known as Svala, Svala Björgvins or Kali, is an Icelandic singer and songwriter. She rose to major fame with her song, "The Real Me" which was released on June 12, 2001 to Rhythmic co ...

; "Planet Portugal", a video sketch inspired by

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

featuring

Herman José Hermann José von Krippahl , known as Herman José (born 19 March 1954), is a Portuguese-born German comedian, television host, actor and musician. He is best known for his numerous TV shows and comedy sketches. Starting his career in the mid-1 ...

; and "Esclopedia", a video skit about the contest's history. The Portuguese, Spanish and British artists were then interviewed, and clips of their competing songs were played.

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final took place on 10 May 2018 at 20:00

(21:00

). Eighteen countries participated in this semi-final, with the running order published on 3 April 2018. Norway won the most points, followed by Sweden, Moldova, Australia, Denmark, Ukraine, Netherlands, Slovenia, Serbia, and Hungary. The countries that failed to reach the final were Romania, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Russia, Montenegro, San Marino, and Georgia. All the countries competing in this semi-final were eligible to vote, plus , and . The interval acts included a dance medley of " Puppet on a String", "

Dschinghis Khan Dschinghis Khan (; "Genghis Khan") is a German Eurodisco Pop music, pop band. It was originally formed in Munich in Eurovision Song Contest 1979, 1979 to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest with their song "Dschinghis Khan (song), Dschinghis K ...

", "

Making Your Mind Up "Making Your Mind Up" is a song by the British pop group Bucks Fizz with music composed by John Danter and lyrics written by Andy Hill. Released in March 1981, it was Bucks Fizz's debut single, the group having been formed just two months earl ...

", "

Euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

" and

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions J ...

, performed by the presenters; a pre-recorded segment depicting the recording of the postcards; a short documentary about the Portuguese 1974 entry " E depois do adeus" and its impact on the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution (), code-named Operation Historic Turn (), also known as the 25 April (), was a military coup by military officers that overthrew the Estado Novo government on 25 April 1974 in Portugal. The coup produced major socia ...

; plus new instalments of "Esclopedia" and "Planet Portugal". The French, German and Italian artists were then interviewed, and clips of their competing songs were played.

Final

The final took place on 12 May 2018 at 20:00

(21:00

). Twenty-six countries participated in the final, with all forty-three participating countries eligible to vote. The running order for the final was published on 10 May 2018. Israel won the contest with the song "

", performed by

and written by

and Stav Beger. Israel won with 529 points, also winning the televote. Cyprus came second with 436 points, with Austria (who won the jury vote), Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Estonia, Denmark, and Moldova completing the top ten. Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom, Finland, and Portugal occupied the bottom five positions. The final was opened by Portuguese

fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado ...

singers

Ana Moura Ana Cláudia Moura Pereira (born 17 September 1979), known as Ana Moura, is a Portuguese fado singer. An internationally recognized singer, she was the youngest fadista to be nominated for a Dutch Edison Award.Porto Editora – Ana Moura na ...

and

Mariza Marisa dos Reis Nunes (born 16 December 1973), known professionally as Mariza (), is a Portuguese fado singer. Mariza was born in Lourenço Marques, Portuguese Mozambique, to a Portuguese father, José Brandão Nunes, and a Mozambican mothe ...

performing "Fado loucura" and "Barco negro" respectively. This was followed by the flag parade, introducing all twenty-six finalists, accompanied with music by Portuguese

scratching Scratching, sometimes referred to as scrubbing, is a DJ and Turntablism, turntablist technique of moving a vinyl record back and forth on a phonograph, turntable to produce percussive or rhythmic sounds. A crossfader on a DJ mixer may be used to ...

duo Beatbombers. The interval acts included a medley of "Ter peito e espaço", "Nova Lisboa", and "Reserva pra dois", performed by DJ

Branko Branko (Cyrillic script: Бранко; ) is a South Slavic male given name found in all of the former Yugoslavia. It is related to the names Branimir and Branislav, and the female equivalent is Branka. People named Branko include: * Branko (DJ), P ...

and featuring

Plutónio João Ricardo Azevedo (born 28 June 1985), mostly known for his stage name Plutónio or Plutonio, is a Portuguese rapper and hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s fro ...

Dino D'Santiago Claudino Jesus Borges Pereira, better known by his stage name Dino D'Santiago (born 13 December 1982), is a Portuguese activist, composer, and musician of Cape Verdean descent. First appearing in Operação Triunfo, he has released several albums, ...

, and

Mayra Andrade Mayra Andrade (born 13 February 1985) is a Cape Verdean singer who lives and records in Lisbon, Portugal. Background Andrade was born in Havana, Cuba, to parents from Cape Verde, and she and her family returned to Cape Verde a few days after he ...

respectively; a video sketch about the history of

Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest Portugal has been represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 56 times since its debut in , missing five contests (, , , , and ). The current Portuguese participating broadcaster in the contest is (RTP), which select its entrant with the national ...

, featuring Suzy; an interview with

Polina Bogusevich Polina Sergeyevna Bogusevich (; born 4 July 2003), also known as Nanamé, is a Russian singer. She Russia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017, represented Russia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Wings (Polina Bogus ...

, winner of the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the fifteenth edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, organised by the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It took place on 26 November 2017 at the Olympi ...

; and

, who performed his new single "Mano a mano" and his winning song "", the latter in a duet with Brazilian singer

Caetano Veloso Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicália, which encompas ...

, with both songs featuring piano accompaniment by

Júlio Resende Júlio Resende ( Faro, 10 June 1982) is a Portuguese pianist and composer. He is a pioneer of a unique and new genre called "Fado-Jazz". His improvisation techniques are transversal to his aesthetics, and articulate different musical genres, from ...

Spokespersons

The spokespersons announced the 12-point score from their respective country's national jury in the following order: # Natalia Zhyzhchenko #

Tural Asadov Tural Asadov (, born 16 August 1982) is an Azerbaijani actor, television presenter, voice-over artist and film producer. Biography Vital Tural Jafar oglu Asadov was born on August 16, 1982, in the city of Baku. In 1999, he graduated from h ...

Naviband Naviband (stylised as NAVIBAND, until late 2016 also called NAVI) is a Belarusian indie folk band. The band was founded as a duo between singer/songwriter and guitar player Artsiom Lukyanenka and singer/songwriter Kseniya Zhuk (Lukyanenka), later ...

John Kennedy O'Connor John Kennedy O'Connor (born in 1964) is a television and radio broadcaster, author, and entertainment commentator. He was born in North London, England, but is a naturalized citizen of the United States. He has written, reported and broadcast f ...

# OG3NE #

Jana Burčeska Jana Burčeska (, ; born 6 July 1993) is a Macedonian singer. She represented Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Ukraine, with the song " Dance Alone". Burčeska first came to prominence in her native country in 2011 after competin ...

# Lara Azzopardi #

Tamara Gachechiladze Tamara "Tako" Milanova (; ka, თამარა "თაქო" მილანოვა, ; born 17 March 1983) is a Georgian singer, songwriter and actress. She represented Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, with the song " Keep the ...

Nieves Álvarez Nieves Álvarez (born 30 March 1974) is a Spanish model and television presenter. Career In 1992, Álvarez was a finalist at the Elite Look of the Year model search competition held by Elite Model Management. She subsequently worked for Yv ...

# Kati Bellowitsch #

Ulla Essendrop Ulla Essendrop (born 1 December 1976) is a Danish television presenter and sports reporter. She was born in Calcutta, India, but at three years old she was adopted by Danish parents and moved to Denmark. In 2013, she had her own television spo ...

Mel Giedroyc Melanie Clare Sophie Giedroyc ( , ; born 5 June 1968) is an English actress, comedian and television presenter. With Sue Perkins, she has co-hosted series including ''Light Lunch'' for Channel 4, '' The Great British Bake Off'' for the BBC an ...

Felix Sandman Karl Felix Wilhelm Sandman (born 25 October 1998) is a Swedish singer and actor. He is best known as a member of the boy band FO&O with two studio albums ''Off the Grid (The Fooo album), Off the Grid'' (2014) and ''FO&O (album), FO&O'' (2017). H ...

Dagmāra Legante Dagmāra Legante-Celmiņa (born Dagmāra Legante December 9, 1977 in Riga) is a Latvian TV personality, model, actress. Legante has participated in several LNT humor and various other shows ("Oh Lord," "Oddly," "Music lesson," "Why not!"). In ...

Andri Xhahu Andri Xhahu (born 30 April 1987) is an Albanian television and radio presenter, journalist and editor, who works for RTSH. Since 2012, he has served as the commentator and spokesperson for the Eurovision Song Contest. Career Xhahu began his c ...

# Uršula Tolj #

Nicky Byrne Nicholas Bernard James Adam McGarry Byrne Jr. (born 9 October 1978) is an Irish pop singer, songwriter and radio and television presenter. He is best known for being a member of the pop group Westlife; Westlife has since released twelve albums, ...

# Sonia Argint-Ionescu # # Edda Sif Pálsdóttir # Djulieta Ardovan #

Danira Boukhriss Danira Boukhriss Terkessidis (Vilvoorde, 12 August 1990) is a Flemish television presenter and newscaster. Boukhriss studied modern languages and literature (Dutch, English and Spanish) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and has been working fo ...

Aleksander Walmann Aleksander Walmann Åsgården (born 12 January 1986) is a Norwegian singer and songwriter. He represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 alongside Jowst with the song "Grab the Moment", finishing in 10th place. Early life and caree ...

and

Jowst Joakim With Steen (born 26 June 1989), better known as Jowst (stylised in all caps), is a Norwegian music producer and songwriter. He Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 alongside voca ...

Élodie Gossuin Élodie Gossuin-Lacherie (; born 15 December 1980) is a French beauty pageant titleholder, model, radio and television presenter, columnist and regional politician. She was elected Miss Picardy 2000, Miss France 2001 (she is the 72nd Miss Franc ...

# Giulia Valentina Palermo # Ricardo Gonçalves # #

Dragana Kosjerina Dragana Kosjerina Perduv (, , ; born August 22, 1987) is a Serbian journalist and TV anchor. She currently works at Radio Television of Serbia (RTS). Biography Dragana Kosjerina Perduv was born on August 22, 1987, in Sarajevo, from where sh ...

# Hovig # Arsen Grigoryan # # Olina Xenopoulou # # Nataša Šotra #

Barbara Schöneberger Barbara von Schierstädt (, ; born 5 March 1974) is a German television presenter, entertainer, actress and singer. Early life Schöneberger is the only child of clarinet player Hans Schöneberger and his wife Annemarie. She studied sociology, ...

Anna Abreu Anna Eira Margarida Heiskari (name at birth, née Mourão de Melo e Abreu; born 7 February 1990), known professionally as simply ABREU since 2017, is a Finnish singer and songwriter. Abreu first rose to fame in Finland after placing as the runner ...

Alsou Alsou Ralifovna Abramova (; ; ; born 27 June 1983), better known by the mononym Alsou, is a Russian singer. She represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 in which she came second with the song ''Solo'' right after Denmark, giving ...

# Letícia Carvalho #

Lucy Ayoub Lucy Ayoub (; ; born 21 June 1992) is an Israeli television presenter, poet and radio host, formerly of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) and currently working for Keshet Media Group. Ayoub co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest ...

# Mateusz Szymkowiak # Eglė Daugėlaitė #

Maja Keuc Maja Keuc (born 16 January 1992), also known as Amaya, is a Slovenian singer. She represented Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. Career Keuc was born on 16 January 1992 in Maribor, Slovenia. During her childhood, she joined the "En ...

Detailed voting results

Semi-final 1

The ten qualifiers from the first semi-final were determined by televoting and/or SMS-voting (50%) and five-member juries (50%). All nineteen countries competing in the first semi-final voted, alongside Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The ten qualifying countries were announced in no particular order, and the full results of how each country voted was published after the final had been held.

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points received in the first semi-final. In the jury vote, Israel received the maximum score of 12 points from seven countries, with Austria receiving three sets of 12 points. Albania, Bulgaria, and Cyprus were awarded two sets of 12 points each, and Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, and Lithuania were each awarded one set of 12 points. In the public vote, Cyprus received the maximum score of 12 points from five countries, with Estonia and Ireland receiving three sets of 12 points. Czech Republic and Lithuania were awarded two sets of 12 points each, and Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Finland, Greece, and Israel were each awarded one set of 12 points.

Semi-final 2

The ten qualifiers from the second semi-final were determined by televoting and/or SMS-voting (50%) and five-member juries (50%). All eighteen countries competing in the second semi-final voted, alongside France, Germany, and Italy. The ten qualifying countries were announced in no particular order, and the full results of how each country voted was published after the final had been held.

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points received in the second semi-final. In the jury vote, Sweden received the maximum score of 12 points from nine countries, with Australia and Norway receiving three sets of 12 points. Moldova and Romania were awarded two sets of 12 points each, and the Netherlands and Serbia were each awarded one set of 12 points. In the public vote, Denmark received the maximum score of 12 points from six countries, with Moldova receiving five sets of 12 points. Romania and Serbia were awarded two sets of 12 points each, and Hungary, Norway, Poland, Russia, San Marino, and Ukraine were each awarded one set of 12 points.

Final

The results of the final were determined by televoting and jury voting in all forty-three participating countries. The announcement of the jury points was conducted by each country individually, with the country's spokesperson announcing their jury's favourite entry that received 12 points, with the remaining points shown on screen. Following the completion of the jury points announcement, the public points were announced as an aggregate by the contest hosts in ascending order starting from the country which received the fewest points from the televoting.

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points received in the final. In the jury vote, Austria received the maximum score of 12 points from nine countries, with Sweden receiving eight sets of 12 points. Cyprus received the maximum score from six countries, Israel was awarded five sets of 12 points, and Germany received four sets of 12 points. Estonia was awarded two sets of 12 points each, and Albania, Denmark, France, Italy, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, and Serbia were each awarded one set of 12 points. In the public vote, Israel received the maximum score of 12 points from eight countries, with Lithuania receiving five sets of 12 points. Serbia received the maximum score from four countries, and Cyprus, Denmark, Italy, and Ukraine were each awarded three sets of 12 points. Albania, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, and Moldova received two sets of maximum scores each, and Bulgaria, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Spain were each awarded one set of 12 points.

Broadcasts

The European Broadcasting Union provided international live streams with no commentary of both semi-finals and the final through their official

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel. The live streams were geo-blocked to viewers in Bolivia, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela due to rights limitations. Countries may add commentary from commentators working on-location or remotely at the broadcaster. Commentators can add insight to the participating entries and the provision of voting information.

Incidents and controversies

Accusations of cultural appropriation

Following eventual winner

's performance of her song "

", critics of the song accused Netta of appropriating

Japanese culture Japanese culture has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world. Since the Jomon period, ancestral ...

, with several users taking to social media to call the performance "offensive". The accusations were made after she wore a

kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn Garment collars in hanfu#Youren (right lapel), left side wrapped over ri ...

and

buns A bun is a type of bread that is round and small enough that it can generally be eaten hand-held. Whether a bun is considered sweetened or unsweetened differs between countries: it is considered sweetened in the United Kingdom, a savory bread in ...

, as well as

Maneki-neko The ''maneki-neko'' (招き猫, ) is a common Japanese figurine which is often believed to bring good luck to the owner. In modern times, they are usually made of ceramic or plastic. The figurine depicts a cat, traditionally a calico Japanese Bo ...

s being shown during the performance. The topic was debated on British morning show ''Good Morning Britain'' on 14 May 2018 in response, with television presenters

Trisha Goddard Patricia Gloria Goddard (born 23 December 1957) is a British television presenter. From 1998 to 2010, she presented the talk show '' Trisha'', which was broadcast in a mid-morning slot on ITV, before later being moved to Channel 5. She also h ...

and

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...

defending Netta by stating that she was simply implementing elements of Japanese culture due to her own appreciation of it. English journalist

Rebecca Reid Rebecca Ballantine Reid is a British actress and former model, based in Los Angeles. Career Reid has worked as a model in Tokyo, Paris and London, featuring in magazines such as ''Harpers Bazaar, i-D'', and ''Elle''. In 2014 she featured in ...

disagreed, arguing, "It's not a beautiful, loving representation of real Japanese culture. It's a costume".

Belarusian song submission

On 10 January 2018, it had emerged on Russian social media site VK that Alekseev had performed a Russian-language version of his ''EuroFest'' entry "

Forever Forever or 4ever may refer to: Film and television Films * ''Forever'' (1921 film), an American silent film by George Fitzmaurice * ''Forever'' (1978 film), an American made-for-television romantic drama, based on the novel by Judy Blume * '' ...

" (as "") in May 2017 in

Stavropol Stavropol (, ), known as Voroshilovsk from 1935 until 1943, is a city and the administrative centre of Stavropol Krai, in southern Russia. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 547,820, making it one of Russia's fastest growing cities. E ...

before 1 September 2017, the submission deadline set by the EBU, potentially violating the rules of the contest. Six artists threatened to withdraw from the selection if it were allowed to compete, with Sofi Lapina actually doing so. Alekseev was ultimately allowed to compete by BTRC following a melodic revamp of the song, and went on to win the selection, thus earning the right to represent Belarus in the contest. However, on 23 February 2018, it was reported that the EBU had given Alekseev permission to perform his original English-language version of the song at the contest, and he would opt to sing that version of the song in May. A few weeks after that announcement, on 28 March 2018, Alekseev premiered a new version of his entry with a lighter intro and additional choir at the end of the track. He also confirmed that this version would be the one performed in Lisbon.

Czech rehearsal injuries

On 29 April 2018, during the first rehearsal of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

's performance,

Mikolas Josef Mikolas Josef (; ; born 4 October 1995), also known mononymously as Mikolas (stylised in all caps), is a Czech singer-songwriter and former model. He represented the Czech Republic in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Lie to Me" a ...

reportedly sustained injuries to his back while rehearsing and was subsequently hospitalised. Josef subsequently posted an update on his Instagram, stating, "I can confirm that I got injured during the rehearsal and the situation got worse after several hours. I can't even walk now. Got back from the first hospital and I am now heading to another one". He also stated that he would, however, "perform no matter what". Josef's performance in the first semi-final on 8 May was slightly altered to accommodate his injuries.

Censorship in the Chinese broadcast

During the Chinese broadcast of the first semi-final on

Mango TV Mango TV (芒果TV, ''Mángguǒ TV''; MGTV) is a Chinese video streaming platform under Mango Excellent Media, which is controlled by Hunan Broadcasting System. Mango TV was established on May 26, 2006, in Changsha, Hunan and later decided to use ...

, the performances of

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

were edited out of the show, along with their snippets in the recap of all 19 entries. Albania was cut due to a ban on television performers displaying tattoos that took effect in January 2018, while Ireland was

censored Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

due to its representation of a homosexual couple onstage. In addition, the

LGBT flag LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...

and tattoos on other performers were also blurred out from the broadcast. As a result, the EBU terminated its partnership with Mango TV, citing that censorship "is not in line with the EBU's values of universality and inclusivity and its proud tradition of celebrating diversity through music," which led to a ban on televising the second semi-final and the final in the country. A spokesperson for the broadcaster's owner

Hunan TV Hunan Television or Hunan TV () is a state-owned provincial satellite TV station launched on September 29, 1970. It is currently China's second-most-watched television channel, second to China Central Television's CCTV-1, although Hunan TV has oc ...

said they "weren't aware" of the edits made to the programme. Ireland's representative

Ryan O'Shaughnessy Ryan O'Shaughnessy (born 27 September 1992) is an Irish singer and former actor from Loughshinny, Skerries, County Dublin. He portrayed Mark Halpin in the popular TV series ''Fair City'' for nine years (2001–2010). In January 2012, he appear ...

told the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in an interview that "they haven't taken this lightly and I think it's a move in the right direction, so I'm happy about it."

United Kingdom stage invasion

The performance of

, who represented the United Kingdom, in the final was disrupted by a man who rushed onto the stage and grabbed her

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...

, reportedly shouting "For the Nazis of the UK media, we demand freedom! War is not peace." The man, later identified as 'Dr ACactivism', a political activist from London, climbed into a camera run to get access to the stage. SuRie was able to complete her performance, and after the song the broadcast cut to an unscheduled interview in the green room. The EBU offered SuRie and her team the opportunity to perform again, but she declined. SuRie later revealed that she had suffered several bruises on her right hand. Shortly after the live broadcast on YouTube, the final was taken down and reuploaded in its entirety, with SuRie's interrupted performance edited out and substituted with her jury show performance from the previous evening. The official reupload also retains the unscheduled green room interview with the Ukrainian delegation that followed the stage invasion. The official DVD release also replaces the interrupted final performance with the previous evening's jury show performance. However, the

uploaded the original performance, including the stage invasion, to its YouTube channel.

Other awards

In addition to the main winner's trophy, the

Marcel Bezençon Awards The Marcel Bezençon Awards were first handed out during the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 in Tallinn, Estonia honouring the best competing songs in the final. Founded by Christer Björkman (Sweden's representative in the Eurovision Song Conte ...

and the

Barbara Dex Award The Barbara Dex Award was a fan-voted accolade awarded annually to the worst-dressed contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest. The award was created by the fansite The House of Eurovision in 1997, which hosted it until the site's closure in 20 ...

were contested during the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. The

OGAE The (; ), shortened to OGAE, is a non-governmental and non-profit international organisation, consisting of 42 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs from across Europe and worldwide. It was founded in 1984 in Savonlinna, Finland by Jaripekka Koikka ...

, "General Organisation of Eurovision Fans" voting poll also took place before the contest.

Marcel Bezençon Awards

The

, organised since 2002 by Sweden's then-Head of Delegation and 1992 representative

Christer Björkman Christer Samuel Björkman (; born 25 August 1957) is a Swedish singer and television producer. He represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 with the song "I morgon är en annan dag". From 2002 to 2021, he served as a producer of M ...

, and 1984 winner

Richard Herrey Per Richard Herrey (born 19 August 1964) is a Swedish artist, politician in the Moderate Party, media personality and restaurant manager. Biography Richard Herrey won Melodifestivalen in 1984 together with his brothers Per and Louis as the ban ...

, honours songs in the contest's final. The awards are divided into three categories: Artistic Award, Composers Award, and Press Award. The winners were revealed shortly before the Eurovision final on 12 May.

OGAE

, an organisation of over forty Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs across Europe and beyond, conducts an annual voting poll first held in 2002 as the Marcel Bezençon Fan Award. After all votes were cast, the top-ranked entry in the 2018 poll was also the winner of the contest, "

" performed by

; the top five results are shown below.

Barbara Dex Award

The

is a humorous fan award given to the worst dressed artist each year. Named after Belgium's representative who came last in the 1993 contest, wearing her self-designed dress, the award was handed by the fansite House of Eurovision from 1997 to 2016 and is being carried out by the fansite ''Songfestival.be'' since 2017.

Official album

''Eurovision Song Contest: Lisbon 2018'' is the official compilation album of the contest, put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

digitally on 6 April 2018 and physically on 20 April 2018.Eurovision Song Contest Lisbon 2018
,

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

. The album features all 43 participating entries, including the semi-finalists that failed to qualify for the grand final.

Charts

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Eurovision Song Contest

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Music festivals in Portugal 2018 in Portugal 2018 song contests May 2018 in Portugal Events in Lisbon Music in Lisbon Censorship of broadcasting Obscenity controversies in music Television controversies Obscenity controversies in television Censorship in China

Location

Venue

Bidding phase

Other sites

Participants

Returning artists

Other countries

Active EBU members

Associate EBU members

Non-EBU members

Production

Visual design

Stage design

Postcards

Presenters

Format

Voting system changes

Semi-final allocation draw

Contest overview

Semi-final 1

Semi-final 2

Final

Spokespersons

Detailed voting results

Semi-final 1

12 points

Semi-final 2

12 points

Final

12 points

Broadcasts

Incidents and controversies

Accusations of cultural appropriation

Belarusian song submission

Czech rehearsal injuries

Censorship in the Chinese broadcast

United Kingdom stage invasion

Other awards

Marcel Bezençon Awards

OGAE

Barbara Dex Award

Official album

Charts

See also

Notes

References

External links