The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place for the first time in Portugal following the country's first victory at the 2017 contest in Kiev, Ukraine with the song "Amar pelos dois", performed by Salvador Sobral. The contest was held at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, and consisted of two semi-finals on 8 and 10 May, and the final on 12 May 2018. The three live shows were hosted by Filomena Cautela, Sílvia Alberto, Daniela Ruah and Catarina Furtado.
Forty-three countries participated in the contest, equalling the record of the 2008 and 2011 editions. Russia returned after their absence from the previous edition, and for the first time since 2011, no country withdrew from the contest.
The theme for the contest, All Aboard!, was unveiled on 7 November 2017. Its visual design features oceanic motifs that allude to Lisbon's location on the Atlantic coast and to the Portuguese seafaring history. Alongside the main emblem, which depicts a stylised seashell, twelve supplemental emblems were designed to symbolise different aspects of a marine ecosystem.
The winner was Israel with the song "Toy", performed by Netta. This was Israel's fourth victory in the contest, following their wins in 1978, 1979, and 1998, and their first top five placing in more than a decade. This edition also saw Cyprus and the Czech Republic achieve the best placing in their Eurovision history, coming in second and sixth place, respectively. Portugal finished in the last place, making this the third time that the host country ranked in the bottom five since 2015. For the first time since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Azerbaijan, Romania, and Russia failed to qualify for the final. No countries in the Caucasus region participated in the final for the first time since 2005. The EBU reported that the contest had a worldwide audience of around 186 million viewers, surpassing the 2017 edition by over 4 million.
The contest featured two representatives who also previously performed as lead vocalists for the same countries. Alexander Rybak won for Norway in 2009 performing "Fairytale" and Waylon placed second for the Netherlands in 2014 as part of The Common Linnets performing "Calm After the Storm". The contest also featured Jessica Mauboy, representing Australia, after taking part in 2014 as the interval act for the second semi-final, performing "Sea of Flags". In addition, the contest featured four lead singers previously participating as backing vocalists, two of them for the same countries. Lea Sirk backed for Slovenia in 2014 and off-stage in 2016, and Equinox member Vlado Mihailov backed for Bulgaria in 2017. Cesár Sampson, representing Austria, backed for Bulgaria in 2016 (also as a dancer) and off-stage in 2017. SuRie, representing the United Kingdom, backed for Belgium in 2015 (also as a dancer) and was the musical director again for Belgium in 2017.
Comments