Eurovision 2024 – a big European party

When we heard that Eurovision would be in Malmö this year, just a train ride away from our home we knew we needed to go. Malmö is a beautiful city in the south of Sweden, or as the commentators of Eurovision phrased it: “Malmö, Sweden’s bridge to the rest of the world!”. It is a nice and cozy place which got an extra glow up for Eurovision with decorations in the streets, a little festival in the central park and a huge amount of tourists. 

Eurovision 2024 was the 68th in Eurovision history and the 7th hosted in Sweden (which the Swedish people love pointing out). A total of 37 countries sent participants, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova. Lia and I, two Young European Ambassadors from Sweden, went to the second preview of the first semi-final in Malmö Arena on the 7th of May, which was the dress and last run-through rehearsal before the big show in the evening. We enjoyed the live music, the crazy costumes, the amazing songs and the extravagant performances during the show, but also the cheerful atmosphere before and after. 

We wanted to record this spirit with words and started interviewing people before the show. Our totally objective selection criteria: people with great costumes and flags and possibly from all around Europe. We asked about their relationship to Eurovision, their favourite candidates, Eurovision and European integrity and the EaP countries in Eurovision.

But have a look yourself:

The people on the street all summed it up: Eurovision is a big party that unites the whole continent. Everyone is welcome, no matter your background, to celebrate music, diversity and Europe. This spirit was all around us during, before and after the show. We will especially remember the answers from the two Ukrainian interview partners: we are here today to show the world that we are still alive, that our music and culture is still alive and that we are not giving up. But we will also remember all the other people, who love Eurovision for its music, its diversity, its collective European atmosphere and the amazing ambience. And something we were all able to agree on that day, no matter who we asked: the Eastern partner countries belong to Eurovision and they are an important part of this big European party. Let’s say it with the theme of this Eurovision song contest: We are all united by music.