How is the order of the Eurovision final determined? | Eurovision Song Contest

Joost Klein kon donderdagavond niet meteen wild gaan feesten toen hij zijn plekje in de finale had bemachtigd. Alle artiesten moesten namelijk eerst nog lootjes trekken. Die lootjes bepalen héél globaal in welk deel van de finale je terechtkomt.

Dit jaar waren er drie opties: artiesten trokken lootjes met daarop ‘eerste helft’, ‘tweede helft’ en ‘keuze van de producent’. Die eerste twee spreken voor zich, maar die laatste optie heeft wat uitleg nodig. De organisatie van het Songfestival, de European Broadcasting Union en de Zweedse omroep SVT, wilden de ruimte hebben wat te kunnen schuiven met inzendingen en krijgen dat op deze manier voor elkaar.

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In the past, artists drew lots and immediately knew how many they had to get. That was very honest, but at the same time it also made it a somewhat unpredictable show: you could get a whole series of ballads in a row, or all the party songs at the beginning of the finale. And for a nice evening of television, it would be nice if there was some variety.

That is why the tickets for the first and second half were introduced. But the SVT and EBU still wanted a little more say. They not only look at what kinds of songs come one after the other, but also at which set pieces they can easily build one after the other.

For example, the Latvia tube needs a lot of setup time, but Joost Klein has a fairly empty stage and therefore needs less time. By maintaining variety, it is not necessary to take a whole presentation time after each performance.

The question is whether it is completely fair. This year there has been considerable criticism of the order. Due to the large number of ‘producer’s choices’, it feels as if the organization has a very big finger in the pie and can thus somewhat influence who will stand out to the viewer at home. For example, Ukraine has the so-called death spot received: that country is next in line. That is the only starting position on which a profit has never been achieved.

Joost Klein is therefore fifth. That’s not necessarily a good or a bad position, although you could argue that with an up-tempo song like his it’s nice to be a little closer to the middle. On the other hand, for the first time this year, voting can be done from the start of the show, so who knows, it might actually work out well for Europapa.