Tonight, the Jury Final of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest will take place live from St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland.
We will see the first two rehearsals of the Grand Final of the contest tonight. The first rehearsal will take place in the afternoon and will be attended only by accredited media. The second show, however, will have a considerable impact on this year’s Eurovision race.
The Jury Final is where the national juries, which make up almost 50% of the points on offer, will cast their votes. As a result, the artist’s performances in the St. Jakobshalle Arena on Friday night are almost just as important as the ones they’ll do live on TV this Saturday.
Thirty-seven countries have competed in this year’s contest, with the winner of the 69th edition set to be decided tomorrow.
In a first for the contest, the Final will have its own unique theme that will be seen throughout the night. For the Grand Final, the theme is Let’s Celebrate a New Winner – 26 countries will compete for the coveted glass trophy and the whole of Europe and beyond will be joining in on the excitement and celebrations.
The Competing Acts
Following two Semi-Finals, twenty acts have qualified for the Grand Final joining the Big Five and the host country of Switzerland in the Final:
- 🇳🇴 Norway: Kyle Alessandro – “Lighter”
- 🇦🇱 Albania: Shkodra Elektronike – “Zjerm”
- 🇸🇪 Sweden: KAJ – “Bara bada bastu”
- 🇮🇸 Iceland: VÆB – “RÓA”
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands: Claude – “C’est la vie”
- 🇵🇱 Poland: Justyna Steczkowska – “GAJA”
- 🇸🇲 San Marino: Gabry Ponte – “Tutta I’Italia”
- 🇪🇪 Estonia: Tommy Cash – “Espresso Macchiato”
- 🇵🇹 Portugal: NAPA – “Deslocado”
- 🇺🇦 Ukraine: Ziferblat – “Bird of Pray”
- 🇱🇹 Lithuania: Katarsis – “Tavo Akys”
- 🇮🇱 Israel: Yuval Raphael – “New Day Will Rise”
- 🇦🇲 Armenia: PARG – “SURVIVOR”
- 🇩🇰 Denmark: Sissal – “Hallucination”
- 🇦🇹 Austria: JJ – “Wasted Love”
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg: Laura Thorn – “La Poupée Monte Le Son”
- 🇫🇮 Finland: Erika Vikman – “ICH KOMME”
- 🇱🇻 Latvia: Tautumeitas – “Bur Man Laimi”
- 🇲🇹 Malta: Miriana Conte – “SERVING”
- 🇬🇷 Greece: Klavdia – “Asteromáta”
- 🇫🇷 France: Louane – “Maman”
- 🇩🇪 Germany: Abor & Tynna – “Baller”
- 🇮🇹 Italy: Lucio Corsi – “Volevo essero un duro”
- 🇪🇸 Spain: Melody – “Esa diva”
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland: Zoë Më – “Voyage”
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom: Remember Monday – “What the Hell Just Happened?”
Interval Acts
Two previous runners-up and winners of the televote, Baby Lasagna (Croatia 2024) and Käärijä (Finland 2023) will perform on stage for a special collaboration. Not only that, our defending champion Nemo from Switzerland will perform during the Grand Final.
Voting
Almost 50% of the vote has will be determined in tonight’s Jury Final. A few hours after the Jury Final, it is expected that voting for the Rest of the World will open – kickstarting the voting for this year’s Eurovision winner.
Tonight, though, the Jury Final will not be broadcast. It will be performed in front of a paying audience tonight in the St. Jakobshalle Arena, and it will be broadcast to accredited media. Also tonight, some audience members will vote in the Eurovision Audience Poll, jointly organised by Eurovoix, which will give some indication of who could win on Saturday.
Facts & Stats
2025 marks the third time Switzerland has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest. They hosted the very first contest in 1956 in Lugano, 1989 in Lausanne, and 2025 in Basel.
This year’s host city Basel is known as the “three country corner” for it borders both France and Germany, and also has its own unique German dialect.
Switzerland’s victory in 1988 remains one of the closest margins of victory in Eurovision history. Céline Dion won the contest with a total of 137 points, a single point more than the United Kingdom’s Scott Fitzgerald’s total of 136. This is the closest result since 1969.
The 1988 Eurovision Song Contest holds a lasting legacy as it is widely regarded as being the launchpad to international stardom and success for Céline Dion who has since gone on to become the most successful French-language artist selling over 200 million records worldwide.
Tennis star Roger Federer was born in Basel.
Host Sandra Studer is best known to Eurovsion fans for representing Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 1991 with”Canzone per te” where she finished 5th. She has gone on to be a successful TV presenter in Switzerland and a guest on numerous shows.
Poland’s Justyna Steczkowska returns to the contest after 30 years. She was selected for the first time back in 1995 and finished 18th overall with her song, “Sama”.
Gabry Ponte, competing tonight for San Marino, is best known as a member of Eiffel 65, where during his time, he produced the chart-topping single “Blue (Da Ba Dee)”, and won “Best Italian Artist In The World” in the year 2000.
Image Source: Daniel Stridh
