Eurovision 2022

The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RAI), the contest was held at the , and consisted of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May, and a final on 14 May 2022. The three live shows were presented by Italian television presenter Alessandro Cattelan, Italian singer Laura Pausini and Lebanese-born British-French singer Mika.

Forty countries participated in the contest, with and returning after their absence from the previous edition. had originally planned to participate, but was excluded due to its invasion of Ukraine.

The winner was with the song "Stefania", performed by Kalush Orchestra and written by the group's members Ihor Didenchuk, Oleh Psiuk, Tymofii Muzychuk and Vitalii Duzhyk, along with Ivan Klymenko. The finished in second place for a record-extending sixteenth time, also achieving its best result since . , and rounded out the top five, with Spain achieving its best result since . Ukraine won the televote with 439 points, the most received in the contest's history to date, and came fourth in the jury vote behind the United Kingdom, Sweden and Spain. "Stefania" is the first song sung entirely in Ukrainian and the first song with hip-hop elements to win the contest.

The EBU reported that the contest had a television audience of 161 million viewers in 34 European markets, a decrease of 22 million viewers from the previous edition, however, it is noted that this is due to the exclusion of Russia and the lack of audience figures from Ukraine, with the overall figures up by 7 million viewers in a comparable market from 2021. An increase of three per cent in the 15–24 year old age range was also reported. A total of 18 million viewers watched the contest online on YouTube and TikTok.

Location

The 2022 contest took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the 2021 edition with the song "", performed by Måneskin. It was the third time that Italy had hosted the contest, having previously done so for the and contests, held in Naples and Rome respectively. The selected venue was the 13,300-seat , a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Santa Rita district, which serves as a venue for events including concerts, exhibitions, trade fairs, conferences, and sports (mainly those requiring an ice rink, such as ice hockey and curling). had previously hosted the ice hockey events at the 2006 Winter Olympics, and the opening ceremonies of the 2007 Winter Universiade and will host the same event in 2025.

The venue returned to its full capacity for the contest, after the previous edition in Rotterdam saw a limited audience of 3,500 people as a precaution against the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the audience was required to wear masks at all times inside the venue, unlike in Rotterdam where mask-wearing was not enforced whenever the audience was seated. Nearly all COVID-19 prevention measures for the contest were dropped by 11 May 2022, with testing only required whenever symptoms were exhibited.

In addition to the main venue, the host city also organised side events in tandem with the contest. 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 at and open from 7 to 14 May 2022. The EuroClub, which took place across ten different locations in Turin, hosted the official after-parties and private performances by contest participants. Unlike in previous years, access to the EuroClub was not restricted to accredited fans, delegates and press. The "Turquoise Carpet" and Opening Ceremony events, where the contestants and their delegations were presented before the accredited press and fans, took place at the Palace of Venaria on 8 May 2022.

Bidding phase

Between 23 and 28 May 2021, many cities across Italy expressed interest in hosting the contest. Representatives from the cities of Bologna, Milan, Pesaro, Naples and Turin voiced their interest, as well as the Mayor of Reggio Emilia, Luca Vecchi, who hoped to host the contest in the new , the largest open-air arena in Europe with a capacity of 100,000 spectators. The mayors of Rome, Rimini and Florence soon after also expressed interest in hosting the contest and were joined by Sanremo, Verona and Bari. , member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, also suggested that if Rimini were to host the contest, it should be a co-production with San Marino RTV.

Host broadcaster RAI launched the bidding process on 7 July 2021. In the first phase of this process, any interested cities were to present their bid through certified email by 12 July, after which RAI and the EBU would proceed to send all of them a bid book with more detailed requirements for the cities to submit their plans for review.

On 9 July 2021, the city of Turin officially announced its bid. On the same day, the city of Pesaro did the same, proposing the Vitrifrigo Arena as a possible venue to host the event. They were followed by Bologna and Jesolo on 12 July, and Rimini and Bertinoro (jointly with Forlì and Cesena) on 13 July. On 13 July, RAI announced that 17 cities had submitted their bid for hosting the contest and would be provided the following day with the bid books. They had until 4 August to draft and submit their detailed plans, which 11 cities did. On 24 August, it was reported that Bologna, Milan, Pesaro, Rimini and Turin would be the cities left in the running to host the contest.

The choice among them was meant to be announced by the end of August; however, this did not materialise, and in mid-September , director of Rai 1, stated that the selection was behind time to ensure "transparency and precision". On 8 October 2021, the EBU and RAI announced Turin as the host city, with the as the chosen venue for the contest.

Key:
Host venue
Shortlisted
Presented the bid book

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. Associate member did not need an invitation for the 2022 contest, as it had previously been granted permission to participate at least until 2023.

On 20 October 2021, the EBU initially announced that 41 countries would participate in the 2022 contest. The list included all countries that participated in the 2021 contest, along with and , both of which had last taken part in (Armenia was also set to compete in the cancelled edition). On 25 February 2022, the EBU announced that was excluded from the contest due to its invasion of Ukraine, thereby reducing the number of participating countries to 40.

Returning artists

The contest featured five representatives who also previously performed as lead artists for the same country. Nika Kocharov, the guitarist of Circus Mircus, had previously represented alongside Young Georgian Lolitaz; Stoyan Yankoulov, a member of Intelligent Music Project, had represented and alongside Elitsa Todorova; Zdob și Zdub had represented and ; Mahmood had represented ; and Ihor Didenchuk, a member of Kalush Orchestra, had previously represented as a member of Go_A. In addition, Ihan Haydar, who had previously represented as a member of Soluna Samay's backup band, returned as a member of Reddi.

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. national broadcaster TRT had been in talks with the EBU about a potential return to the contest in 2022, but the country ultimately did not appear on the final list of participants.

Non-EBU members

was excluded from participation in the 2022 contest on 1 July 2021, when the EBU Executive Board agreed to expel its national broadcaster BTRC as a result of its use as a propaganda tool, losing the rights to broadcast and participate in any Eurovision event until 1 July 2024. Conversely, initially appeared on the list of participants; however, following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and subsequent protests from other participating countries, the EBU decided to exclude the country from the contest; Russian member broadcasters, including VGTRK and Channel One, immediately responded by announcing their withdrawal from the union, which was finalised on 26 May 2022 and resulted in Russia indefinitely losing broadcasting and participation rights for future Eurovision events.

broadcaster 1 FL TV, despite previous attempts to become an EBU member, halted its plans after director Peter Kölbel's unexpected death, and did not resume them due to the lack of sufficient funds and of government support.

Production

The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was produced by the Italian public broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI). and Simona Martorelli served as executive producers, and served as directors of the three live shows, Claudio Santucci served as head of show, and Emanuele Cristofoli served as artistic director for the opening and interval acts. Background music for the shows was composed by .

The Italian government allocated around as part of the budget needed to host the event, while the municipality of Turin and the regional government of Piedmont contributed around in total. The preliminary total budget for the shows was . The full costs was not officially published, but is estimated to be at approximately .

Visual design

The theme art and slogan for the contest, "The Sound of Beauty", was unveiled on 21 January 2022. Designed by Rome-based studio Flopicco, the artwork was built around the symmetrical structure and patterns of cymatics to convey the visual properties of sound, which also reflects Italian garden design, while the typography, Arsenica, was inspired by early-20th century Italian poster art; the colours were drawn from those of the Italian flag.

Stage design

The stage design for the 2022 contest was revealed on 18 February 2022. Designed by Rome-based stage designer and dubbed "The Sun Within", the stage design was based around the movements and light of a kinetic sun, with the intended ability to showcase theatrical motion. The design also featured a working water cascade and a green room modelled after an Italian garden. Montinaro had previous experience in stage design, having done so for the Sanremo Music Festival in 2013 and 2019. This marked the first time since that German stage designer Florian Wieder did not design the Eurovision stage.

Postcards

The "postcards" were 40-second video introductions shown on television whilst the stage is being prepared for the next contestant to perform their entry. Filmed between February and April, and directed by Matteo Lanzi, each postcard for 2022 showcased a different locale in Italy adorned by pictures and various artistic elements related to the acts, while the participating artists themselves appeared via footage superimposed through chroma keying, guided by a drone named "Leo". The following locations were used for each participating country:

* Su Nuraxi, Barumini, Sardinia
* Marmore Falls, Terni, Umbria
* MART, Rovereto, Trentino-South Tyrol
* Miramare Castle, Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia
* Villa Monastero, Varenna, Lombardy
* Perugia, Umbria
* Castel del Monte, Andria, Apulia
* Grinzane Cavour, Cuneo, Piedmont
* Matterhorn, Aosta Valley
* Caserta, Campania
* Procida, Naples, Campania
* Sacra di San Michele, Sant'Ambrogio di Torino, Piedmont
* Laghi di Fusine, Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia
* Cavour, Piedmont
* Burano, Venice, Veneto
* Lingotto, Turin, Piedmont
* Selinunte, Trapani, Sicily
* Cortina d'Ampezzo, Belluno, Veneto
* Matera, Basilicata
* Manarola, Cinque Terre, Liguria
* Mole Antonelliana, Turin, Piedmont
* Merano, Trentino-South Tyrol
* Bergamo, Lombardy
* Abbey of San Galgano, Siena, Tuscany
* Urbino, Marche
* Monte Conero, Ancona, Marche
* Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna
* , Nuoro, Sardinia
* Lago di Scanno, L'Aquila, Abruzzo
* Scala dei Turchi, Agrigento, Sicily
* Genoa, Liguria
* Isola di Capo Rizzuto, Crotone, Calabria
* Rome, Lazio
* Castle of Rocca Calascio, L'Aquila, Abruzzo
* Civita di Bagnoregio, Viterbo, Lazio
* Alagna Valsesia, Vercelli, Piedmont
* Rimini, Emilia-Romagna
* Termoli, Campobasso, Molise
* Florence, Tuscany
* Orta San Giulio, Novara, Piedmont

Presenters

Television presenter Alessandro Cattelan and singers Laura Pausini and Mika were the presenters of the 2022 contest. They had already been named as likely hosts by Italian news agency Adnkronos and TV magazine ''TV Sorrisi e Canzoni''; and were officially confirmed during the second night of the Sanremo Music Festival 2022 on 2 February, after appearing on that show as special guests.

The "Turquoise Carpet" and Opening Ceremony events were hosted by Gabriele Corsi, Carolina Di Domenico, and . Acampa, Carusino and Di Domenico also moderated the contest's press conferences.

Format

Entries

For the second year in a row, delegations had the option to use pre-recorded backing vocals, though each delegation could still use backing singerswhether on or off stageor a combination of live and recorded backing vocals. However, all lead vocals performing the melody of the song must still be live. The EBU also required all national broadcasters to create a 'live-on-tape' backup recording prior to the contest which could be used if a participant was unable to travel to Turin, or subjected to quarantine on arrival. The 2022 contest also saw a tightening of the rules around song eligibility. Previously, the rules stated that the competing songs must not have been commercially released prior to 1 September of the previous year, now, a song may be ineligible to compete if it has been released to the public in any way, including live performances, before 1 September of the previous year. Enforcement of the rule was subject to the responsibility of the participating broadcasters.

With all participating artists having performed live in Turin, the majority of the 'live-on-tape' performances were released on the contest's official YouTube channel over a period of ten days, from 14 to 23 June 2022. , , , the , , , , the , , , and the opted not to release their performances, while was exempted from the obligation to record its own, and and removed theirs after release for unknown reasons. Despite not releasing its performance to the contest's official channel, it was nonetheless made available on the channel of the country's representative Vladana.

The 2022 contest was the first edition to not feature any competing song with lyrics in French.

Semi-final allocation draw

The draw to determine the participating countries' semi-finals took place on 25 January 2022 at 12:00 CET, at . The thirty-six 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" and to increase suspense in the semi-finals. The draw also determined which semi-final each of the five automatic qualifiers" Big Five" countries , , , and the would broadcast and vote in. The ceremony was hosted by Carolina Di Domenico and Mario Acampa, with Acampa replacing Gabriele Corsi who tested positive for COVID-19. It included the passing of the host city insignia from Ahmed Aboutaleb, the mayor of previous host city Rotterdam, to Stefano Lo Russo, the mayor of Turin.

Contest overview

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final took place on 10 May 2022 at 21:00 ( CEST). Seventeen countries participated in this semi-final, with the running order published on 29 March 2022. Ukraine won the most points, followed by the Netherlands, Greece, Portugal, Armenia, Norway, Lithuania, Moldova, Switzerland, and Iceland. The countries that failed to reach the final were Croatia, Albania, Denmark, Latvia, Austria, Bulgaria, and Slovenia. All the countries competing in this semi-final were eligible to vote, plus and . was originally allocated to participate in the second half of this semi-final, but was excluded from the contest due to its invasion of Ukraine.

This semi-final was opened by a performance showcasing Italian ingenuity and creativity, accompanied by the official anthem of the contest, "The Sound of Beauty", performed by Sherol Dos Santos, while the interval featured a medley of "Horizon in Your Eyes", " Satisfaction" and "" performed by Dardust, Benny Benassi and Sophie and the Giants with conductor Sylvia Catasta, a brief homage to Raffaella Carrà by the contest presenters, and Diodato performing "". The French and Italian artists were then interviewed, and clips of their competing songs were played.

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final took place on 12 May 2022 at 21:00 (CEST). Eighteen countries participated in this semi-final, with the running order published on 29 March 2022. Sweden won the most points, followed by Australia, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Finland, Belgium, Romania, and Azerbaijan. The countries that failed to reach the final were North Macedonia, Cyprus, Israel, San Marino, Ireland, Malta, Montenegro, and Georgia. All the countries competing in this semi-final were eligible to vote, plus , and the .

This semi-final was opened by "The Italian Way", an act built around Italian improvisation performed by co-presenter Alessandro Cattelan, while the interval featured a medley of " Fragile" and "People Have the Power" performed by co-presenters Laura Pausini and Mika, and Il Volo performing a new version of "". The British, German, and Spanish artists were then interviewed, and clips of their competing songs were played.

Final

The final took place on 14 May 2022 at 21:00 (CEST). Twenty-five countries participated in the final, with all forty participating countries eligible to vote. The running order for the final was published on 13 May 2022. Ukraine won with 631 points, also winning the televote. The United Kingdom came second with 466 points and won the jury vote, with Spain, Sweden, Serbia, Italy, Moldova, Greece, Portugal, and Norway completing the top ten. Finland, the Czech Republic, Iceland, France, and Germany occupied the bottom five positions.

The final was opened by the Rockin'1000 performing "Give Peace a Chance" and co-presenter Laura Pausini performing a medley of "", "", "", "" and "", followed by the traditional flag parade, introducing all twenty-five finalists. The interval acts included Måneskin performing their new single "Supermodel" and "If I Can Dream", Gigliola Cinquetti performing her winning song "", and co-presenter Mika performing a medley of " Love Today", "Grace Kelly", his new single "Yo Yo" and "Happy Ending". Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti also appeared in a pre-recorded message from the International Space Station.

Spokespersons

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

# Jeangu Macrooy
# Labiuse
# Jana Burčeska
# Aidan
# Kateryna Pavlenko
# Andri Xhahu
# Tanel Padar
# ''None''
# Pedro Tatanka
# Barbara Schöneberger
#
# Tix
#
# Ida Nowakowska
# Stefania
# Elena Băncilă
# Janan Dural
# Dragana Kosjerina
# Árný Fjóla Ásmundsdóttir
# Loukas Hamatsos
# Samanta Tīna
# Nieves Álvarez
# Julie Berthollet
# Tina Müller
# Élodie Gossuin
# Garik Papoyan
# Andrijana Vešović
# ''None''
# Linda Martin
# Lorella Flego
# ''None''
# Ivan Dorian Molnar
#
# Philipp Hansa
# Aksel
# AJ Odudu
# Dotter
# Courtney Act
# Taťána Kuchařová
# Carolina Di Domenico

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 seventeen countries competing in the first semi-final voted, alongside France 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 first semi-final. In the jury vote, Greece, the Netherlands, and Ukraine each received the maximum score of 12 points from four countries, while Albania, Armenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, and Switzerland were each awarded one set of 12 points. In the public vote, Ukraine received the maximum score of 12 points from twelve countries, with Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Lithuania, and Portugal each receiving 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 Germany, 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 second semi-final. In the jury vote, Sweden received the maximum score of 12 points from sixteen countries, while Australia, Azerbaijan, North Macedonia, San Marino, and Serbia were each awarded one set of 12 points. In the public vote, Serbia received the maximum score of 12 points from eight countries, with Poland and Sweden receiving three sets of 12 points. Finland were awarded two sets of 12 points, and Cyprus, Estonia, Ireland, Montenegro, and Romania were each awarded one set of 12 points.

Final

The results of the final were determined by televoting and jury voting in all forty 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 jury.

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points received in the final. In the jury vote, Spain and the United Kingdom each received the maximum score of 12 points from eight countries, with Greece receiving six sets of 12 points. Sweden and Ukraine received the maximum score from five countries, while Azerbaijan received three sets of 12 points. Italy and Serbia were awarded two sets of 12 points each, and the Netherlands was awarded one set of 12 points.

In the public vote, Ukraine received the maximum score of 12 points from a record-breaking twenty-eight countries. Serbia received the maximum score from five countries, Moldova were awarded two sets of 12 points, and Estonia, Greece, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom were each awarded one set of 12 points.

Broadcasts

All participating broadcasters may choose to have on-site or remote commentators providing an insight about the show and voting information to their local audience. While they must broadcast at least the semi-final they are voting in and the final, most broadcasters air all three shows with different programming plans. Similarly, some non-participating broadcasters may still want to air the contest.

The European Broadcasting Union provided international live streams of both semi-finals and the final through their official YouTube channel with no commentary, and through their official TikTok channel with an additional backstage feed. The YouTube live streams were geo-blocked to viewers in the Czech Republic, Greece, United Kingdom and the United States. After the live broadcasts, all three shows were made available for every country listed above except the United States.

For the first time in the contest's history, RAI trialled the broadcasts of the event in 4K UHD. The contest was aired on as an upscaled version of the HD feed, as RAI had yet to be fully equipped for broadcast of native 4K content.

Incidents and controversies

Impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Ukrainian entry replacement

Following the controversy surrounding the Ukrainian national final in 2019, which led to the country withdrawing from the contest that year, a new rule was introduced starting from 2020 which bars artists who have performed in Russia since 2014 or have entered Crimea "in violation of the legislation of Ukraine" from entering. The was won by Alina Pash with the song "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors". On 14 February 2022, two days after the national final, activist and video blogger Serhii Sternenko alleged that Pash had entered Crimea from Russian territory in 2015, and counterfeited her travel documentation with her team in order to take part in the competition. The Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC subsequently stated that it would request the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service to verify if the documentation is forged, and that Pash would not be the Ukrainian representative "until the verification and clarification of the facts is completed". After it was discovered that a representative of Pash's team had handed in falsified documentation to UA:PBC, on 16 February, Pash announced her withdrawal as the Ukrainian representative in the contest. Runner-up of the national final, Kalush Orchestra with the song "Stefania", were given an offer to represent Ukraine in Pash's place on 17 February. On 22 February, UA:PBC confirmed that Kalush Orchestra had accepted the offer.

Exclusion of Russia

In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022, UA:PBC appealed to suspend Russian EBU member broadcasters VGTRK and Channel One from the union, and to exclude Russia from competing in the contest. The appeal alleged that since the beginning of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine in 2014, VGTRK and Channel One have been a mouthpiece for the Russian government and a key tool of political propaganda financed from the Russian state budget. The EBU initially stated that Russia as well as Ukraine would still be allowed to participate in the contest, citing the non-political nature of the event.

Several broadcasters expressed their concern at the decision and issued statements calling for the removal of Russia from the contest. In addition to Ukraine's UA:PBC, nine other countries' broadcasters requested the EBU to change the decision: Denmark's DR, Estonia's ERR, Finland's Yle, Iceland's RÚV, Lithuania's LRT, the Netherlands' AVROTROS, Norway's NRK, Poland's TVP and Sweden's SVT. Yle also stated that they would withdraw their participation if Russia were not excluded from the contest. This was followed by a similar announcement from ERR. Latvian representatives also urged the EBU to reconsider Russian participation. On 25 February 2022, the EBU announced that Russia would not compete at the contest, stating that "in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year's Contest would bring the competition into disrepute." The following day, all EBU members from Russia, including VGTRK and Channel One, announced their withdrawal from the union, according to a statement released by Russian state media. Russia had not publicly announced an artist or song before being excluded.

Ukrainian preparations

Following the start of the invasion, UA:PBC and Kalush Orchestra had yet to formally comment on whether their participation in the contest would continue. On 14 March 2022, Claudio Fasulo and Simona Martorelli, executive producers of the 2022 contest, confirmed that Ukraine would still be competing; this was later reaffirmed by UA:PBC on 19 March via a post on its social media pages. They added that work would commence on the Ukrainian 'live-on-tape' backup performance, which was planned to be recorded in Lviv and used in the event that the delegation cannot travel to Turin, however, the delegation was later exempted from the requirement to do so. On 2 April, UA:PBC confirmed that Kalush Orchestra and the rest of the delegation was given permission to travel to Turin for the contest, adding that the group would also take part in promotional events across Europe to raise donations for war relief efforts.

Attempted cyber attacks

On 11 May 2022, pro-Russia hacker group Killnet carried out an attack on numerous Italian institutional websites, including those of the Ministry of Defense, the Senate, the National Health Institute and the Automobile Club d'Italia. The official website of the Eurovision Song Contest was later revealed to be among those that were targeted, in addition to the platform on which the contest's voting system is based. Additional attacks were reported to have taken place during the first semi-final and the final. The attacks were ultimately unsuccessful, and there were no disruptions to either the website or the voting platform.

On-stage statements

During the broadcast of the final, after Kalush Orchestra had finished their performance, the group's frontman Oleh Psiuk shouted onstage: "I ask all of you, please help Ukraine, Mariupol. Help Azovstal, right now!" The contest's rules precludes promoting political statements and messages, and several commentators noted that Psiuk's statement could be in breach of the rules. However, the EBU deemed the statement to be "humanitarian rather than political in nature”. The German and Icelandic representatives, Malik Harris and Systur respectively, also showed support for Ukraine onstage after finishing their performances.

Rehearsal stage malfunction

During the first day of rehearsals in Turin on 30 April 2022, Italian newspapers and reported technical difficulties with the 'kinetic sun' component of the stage, with its arches not being able to move as freely as expected. The papers also reported that the malfunction could not be completely fixed in time for the live shows. Several delegations, among them those from Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland and Lithuania, were forced to revise their staging plans, having been informed of the malfunction a few days prior. later reported the following day that a compromise was reached, in which the arches would stay static for the competing entries' performances, while for the opening and interval acts, the arches would be permitted to move dynamically. This was later confirmed by the EBU in a statement issued to Danish broadcaster DR on 2 May.

Macedonian flag incident

During the "Turquoise Carpet" event on 8 May 2022, the Macedonian representative Andrea was seen lightly tossing the Macedonian flag on the ground before posing for the press. The Macedonian broadcaster MRT later published a statement condemning her action, describing it as "desecration of a national symbol, which is punishable by Macedonian law". In the same statement, the broadcaster stated that it was considering withdrawing Andrea from the contest, and that people in the delegation that are deemed responsible for the incident would be sanctioned. Andrea herself issued an apology later that day. MRT later stated on 11 May that it would take all disciplinary measures after the delegation returned from Turin, while also raising the possibility that it would not return for the , because of the negative publicity caused by the incident. MRT eventually confirmed its non-participation in the 2023 contest, citing financial difficulties, instead.

Jury vote irregularities

In a statement released during the broadcast of the final, the EBU revealed that during the jury show of the second semi-final on 11 May 2022, six national juries, namely those of , , , , and , were found to have had irregular voting patterns. As a result, these six countries were given substitute aggregated jury results for the second semi-final and the final based on countries with similar voting patterns, as determined by the pots that the countries were put into for the semi-final allocation draw in January. The Flemish broadcaster VRT later reported that the juries of the countries involved had made agreements to vote for each other.

During the announcement of the jury votes in the final, Azerbaijan, Romania and Georgia had their votes announced by Martin Österdahl, the contest's executive supervisor. This was stated to have been due to technical difficulties in establishing connection with those countries' designated spokespersons. The spokespersons who would have announced them were Narmin Salmanova, Eda Marcus and Helen Kalandadze respectively. A press release from the Romanian broadcaster TVR on 20 May revealed that the reason for Österdahl's intervention on behalf of the Romanian spokesperson was due to TVR's refusal to accept the aggregate scores calculated by the EBU.

The day after the final, TVR accused the EBU of "changing the rules" and requested further clarification of the incident. In their original decision, the Romanian jury awarded 12 points to Moldova. The Georgian broadcaster GPB and the Azerbaijani broadcaster İTV also requested a more detailed statement on the jury vote issues, disclosing that their juries' 12 points were originally awarded to Ukraine. The Montenegrin broadcaster RTCG and the Polish broadcaster TVP also requested more clarification on the issue. In addition, TVR and İTV claimed that no technical difficulties had occurred during the jury voting segment of the final.

On 19 May 2022, the EBU released the full breakdown of the nullified jury votes from the second semi-final. RTCG, TVR and the Sammarinese broadcaster SMRTV denied any wrongdoing on their part, with the former two claiming that other irregular voting patterns existed but were not detected. TVR also threatened to withdraw from the contest for 2023 and future editions, while also planning to take legal action against the EBU in response. However, it was reported by Romanian news outlet ''Impact.ro'' on 29 July that TVR had dropped all of its objections, and on 26 August, TVR confirmed its participation in the . Montenegro did not participate in 2023 due to financial constraints, while the remaining four countries involved continued to compete.

Reception

Following the 2022 contest, three entries entered the ''Billboard'' Global 200 chart dated 28 May 2022: Ukraine's winning entry "Stefania" at number 85, the United Kingdom's "Space Man" at number 93, and Spain's " SloMo" at number 151. On the ''Billboard'' Global Excl. US chart also dated 28 May 2022, the three aforementioned entries entered at numbers 39, 37 and 79, respectively, followed by Italy's "" at number 194. "" had previously peaked at number seven on the Global Excl. US chart and at number 15 on the Global 200 chart following its win at the Sanremo Music Festival 2022, which also doubled as the Italian national final.

By the end of June 2022, Armenia's entry "Snap" had begun to gain traction on video sharing service TikTok, and subsequently gained viral success on the platform; it had featured in almost 360,000 clips on the service by July of that year. As a result, the song experienced a surge in streams and downloads, and went on to chart in multiple countries. It topped the charts in the Flanders region of Belgium, reached the top ten in ten countries, and charted in a further 23 countries, including peaking at number 21 on the UK Singles Chart and at number 67 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The latter achievement also made "Snap" the second Eurovision song of the 21st century to enter the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, after the winning entry "Arcade".

Other awards

In addition to the main winner's trophy, the Marcel Bezençon Awards and the You're a Vision Award were contested during the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. The OGAE, "General Organisation of Eurovision Fans" voting poll also took place before the contest.

Marcel Bezençon Awards

The Marcel Bezençon Awards, organised since 2002 by Sweden's then-Head of Delegation and 1992 representative Christer Björkman, and winner of the 1984 contest Richard Herrey, honours songs in the contest's final. The awards are divided into three categories: the Artistic Award, the Composers Award, and the Press Award. The winners were revealed shortly before the Eurovision final on 14 May.

OGAE

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 2022 poll was Sweden's " Hold Me Closer" performed by Cornelia Jakobs; the top five results are shown below.

You're a Vision Award

2022 saw the first edition of the You're a Vision Award (a word play of "Eurovision"), ran by the fansite ''Songfestival.be''. Following the cancellation of the Barbara Dex Award due to its associated negative connotations, the You're a Vision Award was established with the aim to "celebrate the creativity and diversity that embody the Eurovision spirit", with the winner being the one with the most notable outfit. Australia's Sheldon Riley won the award, with Spain's Chanel, Norway's Subwoolfer, and San Marino's Achille Lauro completing the top four.

Official album

Cover art of the official album
''Eurovision Song Contest: Turin 2022'' is the official compilation album of the contest, put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by Universal Music Group digitally on 8 April 2022, in CD format on 22 April 2022, and in cassette and vinyl formats on 6 May 2022. The album features all 40 entries including the semi-finalists that failed to qualify for the final.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

See also

* American Song Contest
* Eurovision Young Musicians 2022
* Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022

Notes

References

External links

*

{{Eurovision Song Contest

Album chart usages for IrelandComp

2022
2022 in Italy
2022 in Italian television
Music festivals in Italy
Music competitions in Italy
May 2022 in Italy
2022 song contests
Events in Turin
Music in Turin
Events affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine