Eurovision Song Contest 2017 | |
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Celebrate Diversity | |
Dates | |
Semi-final 1 | 9 May 2017 |
Semi-final 2 | 11 May 2017 |
Final | 13 May 2017 |
Host | |
Venue | International Exhibition Centre Kyiv, Ukraine |
Presenter(s) | |
Directed by |
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Executive supervisor | Jon Ola Sand |
Executive producer | Pavlo Grytsak |
Host broadcaster | |
Website | eurovision |
Participants | |
Number of entries | 42 |
Number of finalists | 26 |
Debuting countries | None |
Returning countries | Portugal Romania |
Non-returning countries | Bosnia and Herzegovina Russia |
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Vote | |
Voting system | Each country awards two sets of 12, 10, 8–1 points to ten songs. |
Winning song | Portugal "Amar pelos dois" |
The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the 2016 contest with the song "1944" by Jamala. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC), the contest was held at the International Exhibition Centre and consisted of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May, and a final on 13 May 2017. The three live shows were presented by Ukrainian television presenters Oleksandr Skichko, Volodymyr Ostapchuk and Timur Miroshnychenko, being the first contest since the inaugural 1956 edition without a female host.
Forty-two countries participated in the contest. Portugal and Romania returned to the contest after a year's absence, while Bosnia and Herzegovina did not participate on financial grounds. Russia had originally planned to participate, but later withdrew after its representative, Julia Samoylova, was banned from entering Ukraine by virtue of having travelled directly from Russia to Crimea, a region that was annexed by Russia in 2014, to give a performance, which is illegal under Ukrainian law.
The winner was Portugal with the song "Amar pelos dois", performed by Salvador Sobral and written by his sister Luísa Sobral. The song won both the jury vote and televote, and Bulgaria, Moldova, Belgium and Sweden rounded out the top five. This was Portugal's first victory in 53 years of participation, the longest in Eurovision history. It was also the first winning song entirely performed in a country's native language since Serbia's "Molitva" in 2007. The top three countries – Portugal, Bulgaria and Moldova – all achieved their highest placings in their Eurovision history, while host country Ukraine received its worst placing to date, finishing 24th in the final.
The EBU reported that 182 million viewers watched the contest, 22 million fewer than the 2016 record.