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The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the 62nd annual event and was held at the International Exhibition Centre in Kyiv, Ukraine thanks to Jamala's win in Stockholm the previous year.

The dates for the contest announced by the EBU on 24 June 2016 were as follows: the two semifinals were on 9 and 11 May 2017, with the final on 13 May 2017. The dates coincide with the second leg of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League semifinals.

6 cities officially submitted bids to host the contest: Kyiv, Lviv, Kherson, Dnipro, Odessa, and Kharkiv. A debate was held on 21 July 2016 to determine the top two cities to host the contest - Odessa and Kiev made the final cut, while Dnipro's bid was added to make a final three.[2] The host city was chosen by the beginning of August. A date was set for 1 August, however, there were extra requirements to review.[3]

On 25 August 2016, Dnipro took its bid out of the running citing the constant delays regarding the announcement of the host city, leaving Odessa and Kyiv as the remaining two candidates. On 9 September 2016, it was finally announced that Kiev was chosen as the host city. This was the second time that the city would host the event, the first time was back in 2005.

42 countries participated. Portugal returned to the contest after a year away, as did Romania, who returned after their government agreed to pay back TVR's debts to the EBU. Australia was invited back to participate for the third time. Bosnia and Herzegovina withdrew due to financial problems. Russia had no choice but to withdraw due to their selected artist Julia Samoylova being unable to enter Ukraine after a travel ban was issued on her.

The winner was Portugal with the song Amar pelos dois by Salvador Sobral, ending the longest wait for a first victory in contest history (53 years). Bulgaria took second place, with Moldova rounding out the top 3, all three countries recording their best ever placings. Of the Big 5, both Italy and France made the left-hand side of the scoreboard, finishing 6th and 12th respectively.

It was the first time since 2014 that both the jury and the televote agreed on the winner.

Format[]

Presenters[]

On 27 February 2017, the presenters were revealed as Oleksandr Skichko, Volodymyr Ostapchuk and Timur Miroshnychenko. It was the first time in the contest's history that the presenters were all male, a complete reversal from the 2015 contest in Vienna where the presenters were all female, as well as the first time since the inaugural contest in 1956 that the event did not feature a female presenter.

Skichko and Ostapchuk, both popular television presenters, handled the main hosting duties. Miroshnychenko, who hosted the Junior Eurovision contest both times it was held in Ukraine and co-hosted the 2017 semifinal allocation draw, handled duties in the green room.

Theme[]

"Celebrate Diversity" is the theme of the 2017 contest. As former event executive producer Oleksandr Kharebin explains:

"This year, artists from over 40 different countries will come to Kyiv and contribute their music and culture to the show and we will add our unique Ukrainian flavor, together creating a celebration of Diversity and an amazing and truly memorable 2017 Eurovision Song Contest".

The design is centered around a piece of traditional Ukrainian jewelry, a wooden beaded necklace known as Namysto. It is said to be a talisman of beauty and health for the wearer, the beads representing diversity and individuality.

Social Media[]

During Eurovision week, three special Twitter emojis were released to promote the contest. They are as follows, along with the associated hashtags:

  • #ESC2017 or #Eurovision: the ESC heart logo in gold
  • #CelebrateDivesity: the 2017 necklace logo in red
  • #12Points or #douzepoints: the winner's trophy in blue surrounded by three gold stars

Postcards[]

This year's postcards start with a backstage tableau of each artist and their entourage. It then goes into a montage of the artist enjoying a variety of different activities before returning to the opening shot where the tableau unfreezes and performer heads towards the stage.

Verkavision[]

In a two-part sketch (one segment per semi), 2007 Ukrainian participant Verka Serduchka and her mother showcase different aspects of Kiev and Ukraine in a comedic way. She later appeared onstage at the grand final to help launch the voting window.

Incidents[]

Spanish final result[]

The Spanish national final erupted into chaos after the announcement of the result. Two of the jurors, Xavi Martínez and Virginia Diáz, both gave their top marks (and later, tiebreaking votes) to Manel Navarro while giving their lowest scores to fan favorite and televote winner Mirela, oddly enough both giving their second-highest scores to Mario Jefferson. It was later revealed that Martínez had heavily promoted Navarro's song on his radio station prior to the final, causing an outcry from the public over a potential conflict of interest over his selection as a juror and two members of the Spanish Parliament putting forward a motion for TVE to clarify the details of the selection process with a possibility of the national final results being voided.

The Spanish Head of Delegation resigned as a result.[4]

Organising committee resignations[]

On 13 December 2016, 21 members of the 2017 Organising Committee (including Executive Producers Oleksandr Kharebin and Victoria Romanova) resigned due to a lack of progress regarding the venue, Euroclub, TV production and other areas such as tickets not being given to OGAE fan clubs.

The resignation letter read:

"...a new actual head of the contest in Ukraine has been appointed, who got the complete control over all the Eurovision aspects in Ukraine." and that "the team can not accept such an appointment"[5]

Street dog controversy[]

A German Eurovision page posted a story about the mass culling of street dogs in Kiev, causing animal rights activists, mostly representing the German rescue organization Tierschutz, to start complaining on social media connected to the contest such as the official Facebook and Instagram accounts as well as several national broadcasters' and artists' pages calling for boycotts against the contest and starting petitions directed at the contest organizers and the EBU against the acts. It was later revealed by another ESC news outlet along with the mayor of Kiev that the acts were false and that the graphic pictures in many of the activists' complaints were not taken in Kiev itself, but in Romania in 2009. The mayor of Kiev stated that the accused culling was not done by city workers, but by illegal hunters doing it for sport.

Russia[]

The Russian delegation chose Julia Samoylova to represent them with the song Flame is Burning. Eventually, it was discovered that Samoylova had performed in Crimea after its annexation to Russia. As a result, the Ukrainian Government chose to block Samoylova from entering Ukraine (by law). The EBU attempted to have Russia appear via satellite, but that idea was rejected. Despite this, Samoylova has still rehearsed and prepared her postcard. 

On 13 April 2017, Channel One Russia received a letter from the EBU as follows, signifying their formal withdrawal from the contest:

"The First Channel has received a letter from the European Broadcasting Union with a message that the EBU was unable to resolve the issue of participation in the Eurovision Song Contest-2017 participant from Russia, Julia Samoylovoy.[sic] About this EBU reports with reference to the decision of the intelligence services of Ukraine. First Channel considers the refusal of the Ukrainian side completely unfounded. The reason is the attempt of Ukraine to politicize the competition, whose goal throughout his 62-Year-old history was to bring people together.
The European Broadcasting Union continues to offer the option of remote participation of Julia Samoylovoy or replacing it with the other party. But First Channel believes that the other option is inadmissible.
A remote presentation discriminates against the Russian marching and is contrary to the rules and principles of the competition. The option of replacing Julia Samoylovoy[sic] at another artist, in our view, can't even be considered.
In the current situation, the First Channel does not consider it possible to broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest 2017."
[6] [7]

Following this, the EBU provided an official statement via eurovision.tv, formally declaring that Russia will not take part in the 2017 Contest:

"These proposals were to either take part via satellite or to change their chosen artist to one who could legally travel to Ukraine for the duration of the Contest. Sadly both proposals have been rejected by Channel One and they have now announced they do not intend to broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. Unfortunately, this means Russia will no longer be able to take part in this year’s competition. We very much wanted all 43 countries to be able to participate and did all we could to achieve this."[8]
On 4 May 2017, the head of the EBU Reference Group told a German media outlet that both Russia and Ukraine will face sanctions immediately following the contest, as Ukraine breached statutes by not allowing Russia to participate, and Russia failed to attend the compulsory Head of Delegation meetings. Both countries could face massive fines or even a participation ban of 3 years.

Stage invasion[]

During Jamala's performance of "I Believe In U" in the grand final, a man wearing an Australian flag invaded the satellite stage and briefly mooned the camera before being dragged off by security. It turned out to be the work of Ukrainian serial prankster Vitalii Sediuk, whose punishment was the surrender of his Ukrainian passport and being forced to remain in the country.

Geo-blocking issues[]

As was the case in 2016, Eurovision fans in the United States, Canada and other countries outside Europe were unable to watch the live streams of the 2017 opening ceremony, the semifinals and the grand final, as well as the individual live performance clips and pre-song postcards from the shows on the Eurovision YouTube channel due to geo-blocking (all backstage content, supplementary features and official music videos were left unblocked).

Participants[]

The semi-final allocation draw was held on 31 January 2017 at the Column Hall of Kiev's City State Administration, and hosted by Nika Konstantinova and Timur Miroshnychenko. The insignia handover ceremony took place before the draw began, officially beginning the countdown to the contest.

Ukraine's two Eurovision winners Ruslana and Jamala assisted in the ceremony.

The pots were as follows, calculated by the EBU's voting providers Digame and based on historical voting patterns:

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 Pot 5 Pot 6 Finalists
Flag of Albania Albania
Flag of Croatia Croatia
Flag of Macedonia North Macedonia
Flag of Montenegro Montenegro
Flag of Serbia Serbia
Flag of Slovenia Slovenia
Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
Flag of Denmark Denmark
Flag of Estonia Estonia
Flag of Finland Finland
Flag of Iceland Iceland
Flag of Norway Norway
Flag of Sweden Sweden
Flag of Armenia Armenia
Flag of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan
Flag of Belarus Belarus
Flag of Georgia Georgia
Flag of Israel Israel
Flag of Russia Russia
Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria
Flag of Cyprus Cyprus
Flag of Greece Greece
Flag of Hungary Hungary
Flag of Moldova Moldova
Flag of Romania Romania
IconAustralia Australia
Flag of Austria Austria
Flag of Czech Republic Czechia
Flag of Malta Malta
Flag of Portugal Portugal
Flag of San Marino San Marino
Flag of Belgium Belgium
Flag of Ireland Ireland
Flag of Latvia Latvia
Flag of Lithuania Lithuania
Flag of The Netherlands The Netherlands
Flag of Poland Poland
Flag of Ukraine Ukraine (Host)
Flag of France France
Flag of Germany Germany
Flag of Italy Italy
Flag of Spain Spain
Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom

Pre-Allocations[]

  • Due to scheduling conflicts on the day of semifinal 1, Switzerland was pre-allocated to semifinal 2 as per a request from SRG SSR. It was approved by the Reference Group.
  • Germany was pre-allocated to vote in and broadcast semifinal 2 as per a request from ARD/NDR.

Returning Artists[]

Artist(s) Previous Year(s)
O'G3NE JESC 2007
Omar Naber 2005
Sunstroke Project 2010 (with Olia Tira)
Koit Toome 1998
Laura Põldvere 2005 (with Suntribe)
Valentina Monetta 2012, 2013, 2014
Imri Ziv 2015, 2016 (backing for Nadav Guedj and Hovi Star)
DiHaj 2016 (backing for Samra Rahimli)

Semi-Final One[]

Flag of Italy Italy, Flag of Spain Spain and Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom voted in this semi. It took place on 9 May 2017. 

Draw Country Artist Song Language Translation Place Points
01 Flag of Sweden Sweden Robin Bengtsson I Can't Go On English -- 3 227
02 Flag of Georgia Georgia Tamara Gachechiladze Keep the Faith 11 99
03 IconAustralia Australia Isaiah Firebrace Don't Come Easy 6 160
04 Flag of Albania Albania Lindita Halimi World 14 76
05 Flag of Belgium Belgium Blanche City Lights 4 165
06 Flag of Montenegro Montenegro Slavko Kalezić Space 16 58
07 Flag of Finland Finland Norma John Blackbird 12 92
08 Flag of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan DiHaj Skeletons 8 150
09 Flag of Portugal Portugal Salvador Sobral Amar pelos dois Portuguese Love for us both 1 370
10 Flag of Greece Greece Demy This Is Love English -- 10 115
11 Flag of Poland Poland Kasia Moś Flashlight 9 119
12 Flag of Moldova Moldova Sunstroke Project Hey Mamma 2 291
13 Flag of Iceland Iceland Svala Paper 15 60
14 Flag of Czech Republic Czechia Martina Bárta My Turn 13 83
15 Flag of Cyprus Cyprus Hovig Gravity 5 164
16 Flag of Armenia Armenia Artsvik Fly With Me 7 152
17 Flag of Slovenia Slovenia Omar Naber On My Way 17 36
18 Flag of Latvia Latvia Triana Park Line 18 21


Semi Final Two[]

Flag of France France, Flag of Germany Germany and Flag of Ukraine Ukraine voted in this semi. It took place on 11 May 2017.

Draw Country Artist Song Language Translation Place Points
01 Flag of Serbia Serbia Tijana Bogićević In Too Deep English -- 11 98
02 Flag of Austria Austria Nathan Trent Running on Air 7 147
03 Flag of Macedonia North Macedonia Jana Burčeska Dance Alone 15 69
04 Flag of Malta Malta Claudia Faniello Breathlessly 16 55
05 Flag of Romania Romania Ilinca ft. Alex Florea Yodel It 6 174
06 Flag of The Netherlands The Netherlands O'G3NE Lights and Shadows 4 200
07 Flag of Hungary Hungary Joci Pápai Origo Hungarian Origin 2 231
08 Flag of Denmark Denmark Anja Nissen Where I Am English -- 10 101
09 Flag of Ireland Ireland Brendan Murray Dying to Try 13 86
10 Flag of San Marino San Marino Valentina Monetta & Jimmie Wilson Spirit of the Night 18 1
11 Flag of Croatia Croatia Jacques Houdek My Friend English, Italian 8 141
12 Flag of Norway Norway Jowst ft. Aleksander Walmann Grab the Moment English 5 189
13 Flag of Switzerland Switzerland Timebelle Apollo 12 97
14 Flag of Belarus Belarus NAVIBAND Historyja majho žyccia Belarusian Story of my life 9 110
15 Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria Kristian Kostov Beautiful Mess English -- 1 403
16 Flag of Lithuania Lithuania Fusedmarc Rain of Revolution 17 42
17 Flag of Estonia Estonia Koit & Laura Verona 14 85
18 Flag of Israel Israel Imri Ziv I Feel Alive 3 207

Grand Final[]

All countries voted. The final took place on 13 May 2017. Ukraine's place in the running order was decided during the Head of Delegations meetings on 13 March 2017.

Draw Country Artist Song Language Translation Place Points
01 Flag of Israel Israel Imri Ziv I Feel Alive English -- 23 39
02 Flag of Poland Poland Kasia Moś Flashlight 22 64
03 Flag of Belarus Belarus NAVIBAND Historyja majho žyccia Belarusian Story of my life 17 83
04 Flag of Austria Austria Nathan Trent Running on Air English -- 16 93
05 Flag of Armenia Armenia Artsvik Fly With Me 18 79
06 Flag of The Netherlands The Netherlands O'G3NE Lights and Shadows 11 150
07 Flag of Moldova Moldova Sunstroke Project Hey Mamma 3 374
08 Flag of Hungary Hungary Joci Pápai Origo Hungarian Origin 8 200
09 Flag of Italy Italy Francesco Gabbani Occidentali's Karma Italian Westerner's karma 6 334
10 Flag of Denmark Denmark Anja Nissen Where I Am English -- 20 77
11 Flag of Portugal Portugal Salvador Sobral Amar pelos dois Portuguese Love for us both 1 758
12 Flag of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan DiHaj Skeletons English -- 14 120
13 Flag of Croatia Croatia Jacques Houdek My Friend English, Italian 13 128
14 IconAustralia Australia Isaiah Firebrace Don't Come Easy English 9 173
15 Flag of Greece Greece Demy This Is Love 19 77
16 Flag of Spain Spain Manel Navarro Do It For Your Lover Spanish, English 26 5
17 Flag of Norway Norway Jowst ft. Aleksander Walmann Grab the Moment English 10 158
18 Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom Lucie Jones Never Give Up On You 15 111
19 Flag of Cyprus Cyprus Hovig Gravity 21 68
20 Flag of Romania Romania Ilinca ft. Alex Florea Yodel It 7 282
21 Flag of Germany Germany Levina Perfect Life 25 6
22 Flag of Ukraine Ukraine O. Torvald Time 24 36
23 Flag of Belgium Belgium Blanche City Lights 4 363
24 Flag of Sweden Sweden Robin Bengtsson I Can't Go On 5 344
25 Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria Kristian Kostov Beautiful Mess 2 615
26 Flag of France France Alma Requiem French, English 12 135

Withdrawing[]

  • Flag of Andorra Andorra - RTVA confirmed that Andorra will not return for 2017.
  • IconKosovo Kosovo - It was highly unlikely that Kosovo would debut in 2017 as their broadcaster RTK is not a full or associate member of the EBU. Under Rule 3.3 of the EBU statutes, RTK must be part of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) before applying for active EBU membership.
  • IconLiechtenstein Liechtenstein - 1FLTV confirmed that Liechtenstein will not debut in 2017. However, they did say they were seeking future participation once their financial matters are straightened out.
  • Flag of Luxembourg Luxembourg - RTL confirmed that Luxembourg will not return for 2017, equaling the record of 24 consecutive non-participations set by Monaco.
  • Flag of Monaco Monaco - TMC confirmed that Monaco will not return for 2017.
  • IconSlovakia Slovakia - According to sources such as the OGAE branch and the RTVS Facebook page, Slovakia will not participate in 2017.
  • Flag of Turkey Türkiye - The Director General of NTU confirmed on 23 October 2016 that Turkey will not return for 2017.
  • Flag of Russia Russia - Channel 1 Russia have formally withdrawn from the contest on 13 April 2017, following Ukraine's decision to ban Julia Samoylova from the country on the grounds of her appearance in Crimea, and that they will not broadcast the contest. A statement from the EBU can be found here
  • IconKazakhstan Kazakhstan - Despite the rumors and their broadcaster, Khabar Agency, becoming an associate EBU member on 1 January 2016, Kazakhstan will not debut in 2017. They will broadcast the contest, and the EBU is currently discussing whether to invite other associate member countries to participate in future editions.

Other Countries[]

  • IconCanada OUTtv confirmed that it will not air the 2017 contest in Canada, despite it being rumored that it would be broadcast live (the 2014 and 2015 contests were aired on delay).
  • Flag of China Hunan TV will broadcast the contest in China with its own commentary team.
  • Flag of Greenland KNR will broadcast the grand final in Greenland on a 4-hour time delay.
  • IconUnited States Despite it not being a EBU member or associate station, Logo TV will once again air the final in the United States with commentary by Michelle Visage and Ross Matthews.

References[]

Eurovision Song Contest
Editions
195619571958195919601961196219631964196519661967196819691970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Countries
AlbaniaAndorraArmeniaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBelarusBelgiumBosnia and HerzegovinaBulgariaCroatiaCyprusCzechiaDenmarkEstoniaFinlandFranceGeorgiaGermanyGreeceHungaryIcelandIrelandIsraelItalyLatviaLithuaniaLuxembourgMaltaMoldovaMonacoMontenegroMoroccoThe NetherlandsNorth MacedoniaNorwayPolandPortugalRomaniaRussiaSan MarinoSerbiaSerbia and MontenegroSlovakiaSloveniaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTurkeyUnited KingdomUkraineYugoslavia
Winning Songs
RefrainNet Als ToenDors, mon amourEen beetjeTom PillibiNous les amoureuxUn premier amourDanseviseNon ho l'etàPoupée de Cire, Poupée de SonMerci, ChériePuppet on a StringLa, La, LaBoom Bang-a-BangVivo CantandoUn jour, un enfantDe TroubadourAll Kinds of EverythingUn banc, un arbre, une rueAprès ToiTu Te ReconnaîtrasWaterlooDing-a-DongSave Your Kisses For MeL'Oiseau et l'enfantA-Ba-Ni-BiHallelujahWhat's Another YearMaking Your Mind UpEin bißchen FriedenSi la vie est cadeauDiggiloo DiggileyLa Det SwingeJ'aime La VieHold Me NowNe Partez Pas Sans MoiRock MeInsieme: 1992Fångad av en stormvindWhy Me?In Your EyesRock 'n' Roll KidsNocturneThe VoiceLove Shine a LightDivaTake Me To Your HeavenFly on the Wings of LoveEverybodyI WannaEveryway That I CanWild DancesMy Number OneHard Rock HallelujahMolitvaBelieveFairytaleSatelliteRunning ScaredEuphoriaOnly TeardropsRise Like a PhoenixHeroes1944Amar pelos doisToyArcadeZitti e buoniStefaniaTattoo
Specials
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song ContestEurovision's Greatest HitsEurope Shine a Light
Aspects of Eurovision
CommentatorEuroClubEurovision VillageExecutive SupervisorFlag ParadeGrand PrixGreen RoomHead of DelegationInterval ActNational FinalNational JuryOfficial RulesOpening CeremonyPre-PartiesPre-Song PostcardsReference GroupRest of the World VoteRunning Order DrawSemi-FinalsScoreboardSpokespersonTelevotingVoting Systems
Miscellaneous
Big FiveCurse of 43Curse of Number TwoCurse of GreenDouze Points!ESCRadio AwardsESC Top 250Eurovision AgainEurovision National BroadcastersEurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire SagaFounding SevenLGBT visibilityLynda WoodruffMarcel Bezençon AwardsNul PointsOGAERecordsStand-insThe Reorder BoardTie SituationTop Scoring SongsVoting DiasporaWinner's CurseWithdrawn SongsYou're a Vision Award
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