contest no. 62
Eurovision 2017: Kyiv
The 62nd Eurovision Song Contest was held on Saturday, 13 May 2017 at International Exhibition Centre in Kyiv, Ukraine. 42 countries took part. Portugal won with “Amar pelos dois” by Salvador Sobral, on 758 points.
How would you have voted? Rank all 42 songs from 2017
- Final
- Saturday, 13 May 2017
- Semi-finals
- Tuesday, 9 May 2017 and Thursday, 11 May 2017
- Venue
- International Exhibition Centre, Kyiv, Ukraine
- Host broadcaster
- Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC)
- Presenters
- Oleksandr Skichko, Volodymyr Ostapchuk, Timur Miroshnychenko
- Directors
- Troels Lund, Alexander Kolb, Ladislaus Kiraly
- For the EBU
- Jon Ola Sand
- Slogan
- Celebrate Diversity
- Entries
- 42 countries
- Returning
- Portugal, Romania
- Absent
- Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia
- Voting
- Each country awards two sets of 12, 10, 8–1 points to ten songs.
The story
Russia's singer is banned, and Portugal wins after 53 years
Portugal first entered the contest in 1964. It had never won, and no country had ever waited so long. In Kyiv, after 53 years, it won with a song in Portuguese that the singer’s sister had written.
Most of the headlines before that night were about a country that was not there.
Russia and Ukraine
On 12 March Russia named its entrant, Julia Samoylova. Ten days later Ukraine’s security service banned her from the country for three years.
Her offence was a concert. In 2015 she had performed in Crimea, travelling there directly from Russia. Under Ukrainian law, entering Crimea that way is illegal.
The EBU tried to find a way round. It offered to let Samoylova perform by satellite from a venue of Russia’s choosing. Russian television refused. So did the Ukrainian government.
The EBU’s director-general condemned Ukraine’s decision as an abuse of the contest for political ends. On 13 April Russia withdrew.
On 9 May, the day of the first semi-final, Samoylova sang her song anyway — in Crimea.
Trouble backstage
The organisation had its own crisis. A new head of the organising committee was appointed in December 2016. In February, 21 members of the team resigned, saying that the appointment had brought work to a halt for two months.
An exception for Norway
The rules forbid recorded vocals: what the audience hears must be sung live. Norway’s entry was built on chopped-up vocal samples that could not be reproduced on stage, and after discussions the EBU granted an exception.
The last time the rule had caused a row was in 1999, when Norway complained about Croatia’s backing track. The head of the Norwegian delegation that year was Jon Ola Sand, who by 2017 was the man running the contest.
The end of a broadcaster
Israel’s public broadcaster, the IBA, was being closed down and replaced. It shut most of its operations in the week of the contest. The final was the last programme its main channel ever showed, kept on air by a skeleton staff of twenty.
The interval
Jamala, the reigning winner, was performing in the interval when a man wrapped in an Australian flag ran onto the stage, bared his backside to the audience and was dragged off. He turned out to be a Ukrainian prankster, not an Australian.
The result
Salvador Sobral won with the juries and with the public. “Amar pelos dois” finished on 758 points, 143 ahead of Bulgaria.
It was the first winning song sung entirely in its country’s own language since Serbia’s in 2007.
Bulgaria’s second place and Moldova’s third were the best results either country had had. The hosts were twenty-fourth. Spain was last, with five points.
During contest week Sobral had turned up to a press conference in a shirt reading “S.O.S. Refugees”. If he had Europe’s attention, he said, the least he could do was use it.
Sources: Wikipedia, “Eurovision Song Contest 2017”, and the EBU statements and press reports it cites.
The shows, night by night
What opened each show, and what filled the interval while the votes came in.
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Tuesday, 9 May 2017
First semi-final
18 songs, 10 went through to the final
- opened by
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- Monatik “Spinning”
- in the interval
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- Jamala a new version of last year’s winner “1944”, and “Zamanyly”
Every song and who went through ↓ Every vote, country by country →
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Thursday, 11 May 2017
Second semi-final
18 songs, 10 went through to the final
- opened by
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- Oleksandr Skichko and Volodymyr Ostapchuk the co-presenters sang a medley of past Eurovision songs
- in the interval
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- Apache Crew a dance piece, “The Children’s Courtyard”
Every song and who went through ↓ Every vote, country by country →
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Saturday, 13 May 2017
Final
26 songs
The final
| Place | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Sang | Semi-final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portugal | Salvador Sobral winner! | “Amar pelos dois” Portuguese · Luísa Sobral | 758 | 11 | SF1 · 1st 370 pts |
| 2 | Bulgaria | Kristian Kostov | “Beautiful Mess” English · Johan Alkenäs, Sebastian Arman, Alexander V. Blay, Borislav Milanov, Joacim Persson | 615 | 25 | SF2 · 1st 403 pts |
| 3 | Moldova | SunStroke Project | “Hey Mamma” English · Mihail Cebotarenco, Alina Galetskaya, Anton Ragoza, Sergey Stepanov, Sergei Yalovitsky | 374 | 7 | SF1 · 2nd 291 pts |
| 4 | Belgium | Blanche | “City Lights” English · Emmanuel Delcourt, Ellie Delvaux, Pierre Dumoulin | 363 | 23 | SF1 · 4th 165 pts |
| 5 | Sweden | Robin Bengtsson | “I Can't Go On” English · David Kreuger, Hamed "K-One" Pirouzpanah, Robin Stjernberg | 344 | 24 | SF1 · 3rd 227 pts |
| 6 | Italy | Francesco Gabbani | “Occidentali's Karma” Italian · Luca Chiaravalli, Filippo Gabbani, Francesco Gabbani, Fabio Ilacqua | 334 | 9 | Straight to the final |
| 7 | Romania | Ilinca Alex Florea | “Yodel It!” English · Mihai Alexandru, Alexa Niculae | 282 | 20 | SF2 · 6th 174 pts |
| 8 | Hungary | Joci Pápai | “Origo” Hungarian · József Pápai | 200 | 8 | SF2 · 2nd 231 pts |
| 9 | Australia | Isaiah | “Don't Come Easy” English · Michael Angelo, Anthony Egizii, David Musumeci | 173 | 14 | SF1 · 6th 160 pts |
| 10 | Norway | Jowst | “Grab the Moment” English · Jonas McDonnell, Joakim With Steen | 158 | 17 | SF2 · 5th 189 pts |
| 11 | Netherlands | Og3ne | “Lights and Shadows” English · Rory de Kievit, Rick Vol | 150 | 6 | SF2 · 4th 200 pts |
| 12 | France | Alma | “Requiem” French, English · Nazim Khaled, Alexandra Maquet | 135 | 26 | Straight to the final |
| 13 | Croatia | Jacques Houdek | “My Friend” English, Italian · Jacques Houdek, Arjana Kunštek, Fabrizio Laucella, Tony Malm, Ines Prajo, Siniša Reljić | 128 | 13 | SF2 · 8th 141 pts |
| 14 | Azerbaijan | Dihaj | “Skeletons” English · Sandra Bjurman, Isa Melikov | 120 | 12 | SF1 · 8th 150 pts |
| 15 | United Kingdom | Lucie Jones | “Never Give Up on You” English · Emmelie de Forest, Lawrie Martin, Daniel Salcedo | 111 | 18 | Straight to the final |
| 16 | Austria | Nathan Trent | “Running on Air” English · Bernhard Penzias, Nathan Trent | 93 | 4 | SF2 · 7th 147 pts |
| 17 | Belarus | Naviband | “Story of My Life” Belarusian · Arciom Lukjanienka | 83 | 3 | SF2 · 9th 110 pts |
| 18 | Armenia | Artsvik | “Fly with Me” English · Avet Barseghyan, Levon Navasardyan, Lilith Navasaryan, David Tserunyan | 79 | 5 | SF1 · 7th 152 pts |
| 19 | Greece | Demy | “This Is Love” English · John Ballard, Dimitris Kontopoulos, Romy Papadea | 77 | 15 | SF1 · 10th 115 pts |
| 20 | Denmark | Anja | “Where I Am” English · Michael D'Arcy, Anja Nissen, Angel Tupai | 77 | 10 | SF2 · 10th 101 pts |
| 21 | Cyprus | Hovig | “Gravity” English · Thomas G:son | 68 | 19 | SF1 · 5th 164 pts |
| 22 | Poland | Kasia Moś | “Flashlight” English · Pete Barringer, Rickard Bonde Truumeel, Kasia Moś | 64 | 2 | SF1 · 9th 119 pts |
| 23 | Israel | Imri | “I Feel Alive” English · Penn Hazut, Dolev Ram | 39 | 1 | SF2 · 3rd 207 pts |
| 24 | Ukraine | O.Torvald | “Time” English · Zhenia Galych, Yevhen Kamenchuk, Denys Myzyuk | 36 | 22 | Straight to the final |
| 25 | Germany | Levina | “Perfect Life” English · Dave Bassett, Lindsey Ray, Lindy Robbins | 6 | 21 | Straight to the final |
| 26 | Spain | Manel Navarro | “Do It for Your Lover” Spanish, English · Manel Navarro, Antonio "Rayito" Rayo | 5 | 16 | Straight to the final |
The semi-finals
Every song in each semi-final, in finishing order. 16 songs didn’t reach the final.
First semi-final Tuesday, 9 May 2017 · 18 songs, 10 went through
| Place | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Sang | Then |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portugal | Salvador Sobral | “Amar pelos dois” Portuguese · Luísa Sobral | 370 | 9 | Through: 1st in the final |
| 2 | Moldova | SunStroke Project | “Hey Mamma” English · Mihail Cebotarenco, Alina Galetskaya, Anton Ragoza, Sergey Stepanov, Sergei Yalovitsky | 291 | 12 | Through: 3rd in the final |
| 3 | Sweden | Robin Bengtsson | “I Can't Go On” English · David Kreuger, Hamed "K-One" Pirouzpanah, Robin Stjernberg | 227 | 1 | Through: 5th in the final |
| 4 | Belgium | Blanche | “City Lights” English · Emmanuel Delcourt, Ellie Delvaux, Pierre Dumoulin | 165 | 5 | Through: 4th in the final |
| 5 | Cyprus | Hovig | “Gravity” English · Thomas G:son | 164 | 15 | Through: 21st in the final |
| 6 | Australia | Isaiah | “Don't Come Easy” English · Michael Angelo, Anthony Egizii, David Musumeci | 160 | 3 | Through: 9th in the final |
| 7 | Armenia | Artsvik | “Fly with Me” English · Avet Barseghyan, Levon Navasardyan, Lilith Navasaryan, David Tserunyan | 152 | 16 | Through: 18th in the final |
| 8 | Azerbaijan | Dihaj | “Skeletons” English · Sandra Bjurman, Isa Melikov | 150 | 8 | Through: 14th in the final |
| 9 | Poland | Kasia Moś | “Flashlight” English · Pete Barringer, Rickard Bonde Truumeel, Kasia Moś | 119 | 11 | Through: 22nd in the final |
| 10 | Greece | Demy | “This Is Love” English · John Ballard, Dimitris Kontopoulos, Romy Papadea | 115 | 10 | Through: 19th in the final |
| 11 | Georgia | Tamara Gachechiladze | “Keep the Faith” English · Tamara Gachechiladze, Anri Jokhadze | 99 | 2 | Out |
| 12 | Finland | Norma John | “Blackbird” English · Lasse Piirainen, Leena Tirronen | 92 | 7 | Out |
| 13 | Czech Republic | Martina Bárta | “My Turn” English · DWB, Kyler Niko | 83 | 14 | Out |
| 14 | Albania | Lindita | “World” English · Big Basta, Lindita, Klodian Qafoku | 76 | 4 | Out |
| 15 | Iceland | Svala | “Paper” English · Einar Egilsson, Lily Elise, Lester Mendez, Svala Björgvinsdóttir | 60 | 13 | Out |
| 16 | Montenegro | Slavko Kalezić | “Space” English · Iva Boršić, Adis Eminić, Momčilo Zeković "Zeko" | 56 | 6 | Out |
| 17 | Slovenia | Omar Naber | “On My Way” English · Omar Naber, Žiga Pirnat | 36 | 17 | Out |
| 18 | Latvia | Triana Park | “Line” English · Kristaps Ērglis, Agnese Rakovska, Kristians Rakovskis | 21 | 18 | Out |
Second semi-final Thursday, 11 May 2017 · 18 songs, 10 went through
| Place | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Sang | Then |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bulgaria | Kristian Kostov | “Beautiful Mess” English · Johan Alkenäs, Sebastian Arman, Alexander V. Blay, Borislav Milanov, Joacim Persson | 403 | 15 | Through: 2nd in the final |
| 2 | Hungary | Joci Pápai | “Origo” Hungarian · József Pápai | 231 | 7 | Through: 8th in the final |
| 3 | Israel | Imri | “I Feel Alive” English · Penn Hazut, Dolev Ram | 207 | 18 | Through: 23rd in the final |
| 4 | Netherlands | Og3ne | “Lights and Shadows” English · Rory de Kievit, Rick Vol | 200 | 6 | Through: 11th in the final |
| 5 | Norway | Jowst | “Grab the Moment” English · Jonas McDonnell, Joakim With Steen | 189 | 12 | Through: 10th in the final |
| 6 | Romania | Ilinca Alex Florea | “Yodel It!” English · Mihai Alexandru, Alexa Niculae | 174 | 5 | Through: 7th in the final |
| 7 | Austria | Nathan Trent | “Running on Air” English · Bernhard Penzias, Nathan Trent | 147 | 2 | Through: 16th in the final |
| 8 | Croatia | Jacques Houdek | “My Friend” English, Italian · Jacques Houdek, Arjana Kunštek, Fabrizio Laucella, Tony Malm, Ines Prajo, Siniša Reljić | 141 | 11 | Through: 13th in the final |
| 9 | Belarus | Naviband | “Story of My Life” Belarusian · Arciom Lukjanienka | 110 | 14 | Through: 17th in the final |
| 10 | Denmark | Anja | “Where I Am” English · Michael D'Arcy, Anja Nissen, Angel Tupai | 101 | 8 | Through: 20th in the final |
| 11 | Serbia | Tijana Bogićević | “In Too Deep” English · Johan Alkenäs, Lisa Desmond, Borislav Milanov, Joacim Persson | 98 | 1 | Out |
| 12 | Switzerland | Timebelle | “Apollo” English · Alessandra Günthardt, Nicolas Günthardt, Elias Näslin | 97 | 13 | Out |
| 13 | Ireland | Brendan Murray | “Dying to Try” English · Jörgen Elofsson, James Newman | 86 | 9 | Out |
| 14 | Estonia | Koit Toome and Laura | “Verona” English · Sven Lõhmus | 85 | 17 | Out |
| 15 | Macedonia | Jana Burčeska | “Dance Alone” English · Florence A., Johan Alkenäs, Borislav Milanov, Joacim Persson | 69 | 3 | Out |
| 16 | Malta | Claudia Faniello | “Breathlessly” English · Gerard James Borg, Philip Vella, Sean Vella | 55 | 4 | Out |
| 17 | Lithuania | Fusedmarc | “Rain of Revolution” English · Viktorija Ivanovskaja, Michail Levin, Denis Zujev | 42 | 16 | Out |
| 18 | San Marino | Valentina Monetta and Jimmie Wilson | “Spirit of the Night” English · Steven Barnacle, Ralph Siegel, Jutta Staudenmayer | 1 | 10 | Out |
Who showed it, and who talked over it
The channels that carried the contest in 42 countries, with the commentator where our source names one.
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Armenia
- Armenia 1, Public Radio of Armenia Avet Barseghyan
- Armenia 1, Public Radio of Armenia (semi-final 1 and final) Gohar Gasparyan
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Australia
- SBS Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey
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Austria
- ORF eins Andi Knoll
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Belarus
- Belarus-1, Belarus 24 Evgeny Perlin
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Belgium
- La Une Jean-Louis Lahaye and Maureen Louys
- VivaCité (semi-final 1 and final) Olivier Gilain
- één, Radio 2 Peter Van de Veire
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Croatia
- HRT 1 Duško Ćurlić
- HR 2 Zlatko Turkalj
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Cyprus
- CyBC Tasos Tryfonos and Christiana Artemiou
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Czech Republic
- ČT2 (semi-finals) Libor Bouček
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Denmark
- DR1 Ole Tøpholm
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Estonia
- ETV Marko Reikop
- ETV+ Aleksandr Hobotov and Julia Kalenda
- Raadio 2 (semi-final 2 and final) Mart Juur and Andrus Kivirähk
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Finland
- Yle TV1 (semi-final 1) Finnish: Mikko Silvennoinen, Swedish: Eva Frantz and Johan Lindroos
- Yle TV2 (semi-final 2 and final) Finnish: Mikko Silvennoinen, Swedish: Eva Frantz and Johan Lindroos
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France
- France 4 (semi-finals) Marianne James and Jarry
- France 2 (final) Marianne James, Stéphane Bern and Amir Haddad
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Germany
- One Peter Urban
- NDR Fernsehen (semi-final 2) Peter Urban
- Das Erste (final) Peter Urban
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Greece
- ERT1, ERT HD, ERT World Maria Kozakou and Giorgos Kapoutzidis
- Proto Programma, Voice of Greece Maria Kozakou and Giorgos Kapoutzidis
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Hungary
- Duna Krisztina Rátonyi and Freddie
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Ireland
- RTÉ2 (semi-finals) Marty Whelan
- RTÉ One (final) Marty Whelan
- RTÉ Radio 1 (semi-final 2 and final) Neil Doherty and Zbyszek Zalinski
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Israel
- Channel 1
- IBA 88FM Kobi Menora, Dori Ben Ze'ev and Alon Amir
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Italy
- Rai 4 (semi-finals) Andrea Delogu and Diego Passoni
- Rai 1 (final) Flavio Insinna and Federico Russo
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Latvia
- LTV1 Valters Frīdenbergs
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Lithuania
- LRT, LRT HD, LRT Radijas Darius Užkuraitis and Gerūta Griniūtė
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Macedonia
- MRT 1 Karolina Petkovska
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Moldova
- Moldova 1 Galina Timuș
- Radio Moldova Cristina Galbici
- Radio Moldova Tineret Cătălin Ungureanu and Maria-Mihaela Frimu
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Montenegro
- TVCG 1, TVCG Sat Dražen Bauković and Tijana Mišković
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Netherlands
- NPO 1, BVN Cornald Maas and Jan Smit
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Norway
- NRK1 Olav Viksmo-Slettan
- NRK3 (final) Ronny Brede Aase, Silje Nordnes and Markus Neby
- NRK Tegnspråk (final) Sign language performers
- NRK P1 (semi-final 2 and final) Ole Christian Øen
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Poland
- TVP1, TVP Polonia, TVP Rozrywka and TVP HD Artur Orzech
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Portugal
- RTP1, RTP Internacional José Carlos Malato and Nuno Galopim
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Romania
- TVR 1, TVR HD Liana Stanciu and Radu Andrei Tudor
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San Marino
- San Marino RTV, Radio San Marino Lia Fiorio and Gigi Restivo
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Serbia
- RTS1, RTS HD, RTS SAT (semi-final 1) Silvana Grujić and Olga Kapor
- RTS1, RTS HD, RTS SAT (semi-final 2 and final) Duška Vučinić
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Slovenia
- TV SLO 2 (semi-finals) Andrej Hofer
- TV SLO 1 (final) Andrej Hofer
- Radio Val 202 (semi-final 2 and final) Andrej Hofer
- Radio Maribor Andrej Hofer
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Spain
- La 2 (semi-finals) José María Íñigo and Julia Varela
- La 1 (final) José María Íñigo and Julia Varela
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Sweden
- SVT1 Måns Zelmerlöw and Edward af Sillén
- SR P4 Carolina Norén, Björn Kjellman and Ola Gäverth
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Switzerland
- SRF zwei (semi-finals) Sven Epiney
- SRF 1 (final) Sven Epiney
- RTS Deux (semi-finals) Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner
- RTS Un (final) Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner
- RSI La 2 (semi-finals) Clarissa Tami and Sebalter
- RSI La 1 (final) Clarissa Tami and Sebalter
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Ukraine
- UA:First Tetyana Terekhova and Andriy Horodyskyi
- Ukrainian Radio Olena Zelinchenko and Roman Kolyada
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United Kingdom
- BBC Four (semi-finals) Scott Mills and Mel Giedroyc
- BBC One (final) Graham Norton
- BBC Radio 2 (final) Ken Bruce
Also shown in
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China
- Hunan Television Lee Wei Song and Lee Shih Shiong
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Greenland
- KNR (final) Ole Tøpholm
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Kazakhstan
- Khabar TV Diana Snegina and Kaldybek Zhaysanbay
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Kosovo
- RTK 1 Alma Bektashi and Agron Krasniqi
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Slovakia
- Rádio FM (final) Daniel Baláž, Pavol Hubinák and Juraj Malíček
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United States
- Logo TV (final) Michelle Visage and Ross Mathews
Results as published by the European Broadcasting Union. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it.