Where to watch Eurovision 2025: What time is the Eurovision final and who is in it?

In the age of streaming, there are few times when we come together as a nation around a TV screen all at once. But the Eurovision Song Contest is definitely one of them. From delighting in Graham Norton’s icy quips to being able to accurately predict each nation’s scores based almost entirely on their local geography, it’s a live show that truly brings us together.

After Nemo (the artist, not the fish or boat captain) scored the victory at last year’s Grand Final with their song “The Code” – a stone-cold banger delivered in a cropped fluffy dressing gown aboard a giant “lazy Susan” – this year’s contest takes place in Basel, Switzerland.

There are 26 countries looking to take home the trophy, but only one can be crowned champion. And boy, will each country pull out every last stop, laser, costume change, video screen and traditional national instrument they can to claim the win. We cannot wait.

Coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 (and the biggest party of the year) will be across BBC One HD (CH 101) and BBC iPlayer (Apps > BBC iPlayer).

All you need to do is grab your scorecards, lay out some food and drinks from your favourite country, invite friends and family around and then… it’s go time.

Ahead of Saturday night’s Grand Final, get up to speed with all you need to know (including who progressed to the final in each of this week’s Semi-Final shows).

The Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 will take place in St Jakobshalle, Basel in Switzerland on Saturday 17 May.

This year’s final will see 26 countries lining up with all manner of lighting, staging and backing dancers and singers, all looking to be crowned the new champions of Eurovision, and the chance to take next year’s contest back to their home country.

As always, the Big Five countries (Spain, Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom) all have a guaranteed place in the Grand Final on Saturday. As this year’s host and current winners, Switzerland will also have a Grand Final place.

There were 20 remaining places up for grabs, with 10 places awarded in each of the two Semi-Finals that took place on Tuesday 13 May and Thursday 15 May. You can see who made it to the Grand Final in the dropdown box, below.

Eurovision fans will able to vote for their favourites in the Grand Final (apart from their own country, as you’d expect).

Will you be voting for the artists you genuinely love, the acts with the most outrageous performances or the ones who just make you laugh? It’s entirely up to you. All are totally valid reasons when it comes to the mayhem that typifies Eurovision.

Coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 (and the biggest party of the year) will be on BBC One HD (CH 101). You can also stream it on BBC iPlayer (Apps > BBC iPlayer), where you can also catch up on anything you’ve missed. 

Join Graham Norton on Saturday 17 May from 8pm for the Grand Final and his unique take on proceedings. We’ll be with him until the bitter end. Possibly with an emphasis on bitter, depending on how the voting goes…

You catch up on both Semi-Finals that took place on Tuesday 13 May and Thursday 15 May on BBC iPlayer, with commentary from Eurovision superfans Rylan and Scott Mills. Each of the Big Five plus Switzerland also performed, with the UK performing on the night of the second Semi-Final on Thursday.

After Olly Alexander’s head-spinning song “Dizzy” only bagged him 46 points in Eurovision 2024 and a disappointing 18th place finish, the mysterious Sorting Hat that picks UK entrants for Eurovision has opted for the upbeat pop vocal trio Remember Monday.

Their song “What The Hell Just Happened?” – which could also be the epitaph of any Eurovision Song Contest – is about the aftermath of a wild night out with friends. It features lyrics like “I’m waking up like, What’s this new tattoo?” and “Broke a heel, lost my keys, scraped my knee / When I fell from the chandelier”. Relatable.

It’s a very different vibe from recent entrants and it goes down the more fun route. And yet, with blended harmonies and strong vocals, maybe Europe will be asking “What The Hell Just Happened?” when Remember Monday walk out of St Jakobshalle with the trophy on Saturday night.

While nothing is ever certain when it comes to Eurovision (we were all very confident when Olly Alexander was announced for the 2024 edition), the current hot favourites for the trophy are Sweden according to the latest odds at the time of writing. Eurovision World puts their chances at a bold 36%.

Sweden are represented by KAJ, a music and comedy group from Finland. Their song “Bara Bada Bastu” celebrates Nordic sauna culture (there are 3.3 million of them in Finland, in case you didn’t know) as a place to relax, bond and reset.

It’s a very different tact to the last Swedish winner, Loreen (who won in 2023 with the pop epic, “Tattoo”). But if they are named champions in 2025, it will mark a historic eighth time the country has won the contest. (Yes, ABBA were their first winners in 1974 – whatever happened to them?)

Other potential winners tipped to do well include Austria, France and the Netherlands. The United Kingdom are currently tipped to finish 14th, but – to use the same joke from earlier – we’re hoping that the bookies will be asking “What The Hell Just Happened?” come Sunday morning.

Hazel Brugger, Michelle Hunziker and Sandra Studer will be presenting the Eurovision Song Contest 2025. All three will present the Grand Final, while Hazel and Sandra also hosted both of the Semi-Final shows. 

Hazel is an award-winning stand-up comedian and presenter. She also won a prestigious German Comedy Award, the Salzburg Bull and a Swiss Comedy Award, and the jury of the German Kleinkunstpreis (an awards body for entertainment) called her “the queen of wit”. We wonder what Graham will make of her.

Michelle, meanwhile, is one of Switzerland’s best-known international personalities, while Sandra was Switzerland's Eurovision 1991 entrant. Under the stage name Sandra Simó, she secured fifth place with the song “Canzone Per Te”. Since then, she’s been the country’s Eurovision pre-selection host, spokesperson and commentator.

After all songs have been performed, each country will give two sets of points (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12) to their favourite songs; one set is given by a jury of five music industry professionals from that country, and one set given by viewers watching the show in that country. Viewers can vote by telephone, SMS and through the official app. As always, you cannot vote for your own country.

There is also a comprehensive set of rules concerning participation that has evolved over the decades, but the main ones relating to competing songs and artists are:

• Songs must be original and no more than three minutes in length

• Lead vocals must be performed live

• No more than six performers can take to the stage during any one performance

Costume changes aren’t mandatory, but trying telling that to a lot of the artists…

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