These are “major changes” to the rules of Eurovision announced on Tuesday by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), at the head of the organization of the competition.
"The Eurovision Song Contest has constantly evolved to remain relevant and exciting", justified its executive supervisor, Martin Österdahl.
The 2023 competition, which will take place in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine after the victory of Kalush Orchestra in Turin in May 2022, will have two big changes: only the public will now decide during the semi-finals who will qualify and the viewers “from non-participating countries will also be able to vote for their favorite songs”.
Since 2009, a combination of votes from the public and a jury of music industry professionals has chosen the finalists in two semi-finals.
But several hiccups marred the semi-finals in the previous edition – Azerbaijan, Georgia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania and San Marino were believed to have awarded themselves the most points.
The votes of non-participating countries added together
As for the non-participating countries, "their votes will be added and converted into points which will have the same weight as a country participating in the semi-finals and the grand final", explains the EBU in its press release.
The 2023 competition would take place in Liverpool on May 9, 11 and 13.
France, which is part of the Big 5 with Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, is automatically qualified for the final.
It is one of the most watched television events in the world: 161 million viewers watched the last edition.