On May 11th, the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 took place in the Swedish city of Malmö. This year's competition was notably intense, with viewers and juries favoring different contestants, and one participant was disqualified amid scandal just before the final. Regarding viewer statistics, the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 recorded the highest average number of viewers and showed the second-highest peak viewership.
In the final showdown, 25 countries vied for the coveted title. Among them were 19 participants from two semifinals, five representatives from the "Big Five" countries (the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Germany, and France), and Sweden's host representative. However, Joost Klein, a Dutch singer slated to perform, faced disqualification. A confrontation with a female camera operator led to the decision after he gestured toward her camera, protesting her post-performance filming despite his request not to. The incident, followed by his disqualification, ignited widespread debate on social media. Despite efforts from Dutch representatives to resolve the issue peacefully, police involvement prompted organizers to enforce the disqualification.
Traditionally, Eurovision's winner emerges from a blend of viewer votes and jury scores. This year's competition proved especially fervent: while viewers leaned toward Croatia's Baby Lasagna, the jury favored Switzerland's Nemo, awarding them first place. Ultimately, Nemo clinched victory with combined scores, propelled by the performance of "The Code". Ukraine's female duo, Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil, secured third place in the fiercely contested event.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 was broadcasted live on the official competition channel on YouTube, attracting 1.55M Peak Viewers who tuned in to watch the grand final simultaneously. This represented an 8.6% increase compared to last year's final in Liverpool. While the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, hosted in Italy, still holds the record for the highest online viewership, the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 surpassed it in terms of average viewership during its broadcasts, with over 806.5K viewers tuning in.
It's intriguing that the leading Twitch and YouTube streamers didn't cover the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 online. Instead, only a handful of channels hosted broadcasts, drawing in no more than 5-6K Peak Viewers.