The 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest (2024) will be, for the third time, the Swedish city of Malmö, where the semifinals will be held on Tuesday 7 and Thursday 9 May as well as the grand final on Saturday 11.
As reported by RTVE today, Malmö has been selected among almost a dozen cities in Sweden that have also shown “their interest” in holding the Eurovision Song Contest next year, but only four reached the final stretch: Stockholm, Gothenburg, Örnsköldsvik and Malmo.
The last occasion took place here in 2013, after the victory, precisely, of Loreen (the current winner) with Euphoria, at the Malmö Arena.
The first time that the Eurovision Song Contest traveled to Malmö was in 1992. That year, RTVE recalled, Spain was represented by Serafín Zubiri, who performed the song All this is music. The festival saw participation from 23 countries, and it was singer Linda Martin from Ireland who took the win with her captivating rendition of Why Me?.
The second occasion took place in 2013, after Loreen’s triumph in Baku, Azerbaijan. Under the motto We Are One, the 58th edition had the participation of 39 countries and was presented by the comedian Petra Mede. The group El Sueño de Morfeo represented Spain with the song Contigo until the end.
And the winner of the edition was the Danish Emmelie de Forest with the theme Only Teardrops, so the festival venue only had to move 30 kilometers to the neighboring city of Copenhagen.
Specifically, the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest will be held at the Malmö Arena, a venue opened in 2008 with a capacity for approximately 12,000 spectators. A wide variety of events have been held inside it over the years, including ice hockey games, concerts and the semifinals of the Melodifestivalen, the television program in which the Swedes annually choose their representative for the Festival of Eurovision.
Swedish Ebba Adielsson, Director of Entertainment for Swedish Public Television, will executive produce Eurovision 2024: “I am very proud and excited about this extraordinary task,” said Andielsson, who will be accompanied by Christel Tholse Willers, Tobias Aberg and Johan Bernhagen in the production of the festival.
With Loreen’s win last May, Sweden tied Ireland for the number of wins: seven. The seventh victory of the Nordic country will be celebrated in style in the next edition, since 2024 will mark the 50th anniversary of ABBA’s victory in Eurovision, Sweden’s first in the festival.
It was on April 6, 1974, when Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad managed to win in the British city of Birmingham with Waterloo. The theme, which shot the group to world fame, was chosen as the best song in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, on its 50th anniversary celebrated at a special gala in 2005.
At the moment, SVT, the Swedish public television, “has neither confirmed nor denied”, according to the television entity, the participation of ABBA in the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Regarding the Spanish representation in this edition, according to RTVE, the registration period to select the representative of Spain in Eurovision 2024 is now open. Until next October 10, both artists and authors and composers can send their proposal using the form of participation.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
