42 countries competed in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest including Romania and Portugal returned to the competition after a year’s absence. The 2017 contest was a special one for Austria, Denmark and the United Kingdom which are celebrating the 60th anniversary of their first participation in 1957. Kyiv was announced as Host City in September 2016 following a competitive city bid process. The decision was made after six candidate cities originally presented their bids to the Organising Committee of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest; Kharkiv, Kherson and Lviv, Kyiv, Dnipro and Odesa. The committee and representatives from the EBU then reviewed and inspected the final city hopefuls and declared Kyiv the winner. The International Exhibition Centre, the venue for the contest, has capacity for up to 11,000 spectators.
The winner was Portugal with the song "Amar pelos dois" (Loving For Both of Us), performed by Salvador Sobral and written by his sister Luísa Sobral. This was Portugal's first win – and first top five placing – in 53 years of participation, the longest winless run by a country in Eurovision history. It was also the first winning song entirely performed in a country's native language since Serbia's "Molitva" in 2007, and the first winner written in triple metre since Ireland's "The Voice" in 1996. Additionally, this was the second consecutive year in which a returning country won the contest following Ukraine's victory in 2016. The top three countries – Portugal, Bulgaria and Moldova – achieved the highest placing in their Eurovision history, while host country Ukraine received its worst placing to date in a Eurovision final. The 2017 edition also saw the worst results for Serbia, Montenegro, Latvia, Spain and San Marino. The EBU reported that 182 million viewers worldwide watched the contest, 22 million fewer than the 2016 record.
The contest featured five representatives who also previously performed as lead vocalists for the same countries. Valentina Monetta, who performed in a duet this time, represented San Marino in three consecutive editions: 2012, 2013, and 2014. The duo of Koit Toome and Laura Põldvere have both represented Estonia in different years: Toome in 1998 as a solo artist, finishing 12th place with the song "Mere lapsed", and Põldvere in 2005 as part of Suntribe, finishing 20th in the semi-final with the song "Let's Get Loud". Omar Naber represented Slovenia in 2005, finishing 12th in the semi-final with the song "Stop". The SunStroke Project represented Moldova in 2010 alongside Olia Tira, finishing 22nd with the song "Run Away". The contest also featured the group O'G3NE which previously represented the Netherlands at another Eurovision event, the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007, as Lisa, Amy and Shelley, with the song "Adem in, Adem Uit". In addition, the contest featured two lead singers previously participating as backing vocalists for the same countries. Israel's representative Imri Ziv who backed Nadav Guedj in 2015 and Hovi Star in 2016, and Serbia's representative Tijana Bogićević who backed Nina in 2011.
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