Are we all aboard? Another wonderful Eurovision journey is slowly coming to an end tonight… Following one whole year of preparations not only in the host country Portugal, but in all 43 participating countries, we have finally reached the most wonderful time of the year!

No… no! We’re not talking about Christmas! As a matter of course, we’re talking about the night that every Eurovision fan waits 365 days per year, every year! The night of the Grand Final!

Live from Lisbon’s Altice Arena, we are going to enjoy a 3.5-hour show, hosted by the 3 television presenters of RTP (the Portuguese national broadcaster), Catarina Furtado, Filomena Cautela and Sílvia Alberto, as well as the famous Portuguese-American actress Daniela Ruah. The show starts at 21:00 CEST (20:00 local time).

26 aboard tonight!

26 countries are being thrown into the battle for the 63rd Eurovision trophy. 17 of them have already won the contest at least once, while the rest 9 will fight for their first victory. From the two semi-final evenings which took place on 8 and 10 May, a total of 20 acts managed to join the 6 pre-qualified entries, those being the Big 5 (United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, France, Germany), as well as the 2018 host nation Portugal.

The exact running order of the Grand Final can be found right below. As of 2013, this is decided by the show’s producers, following the allocation of all contestants either in the first or in the second half of the show.

The guest stars?

The Grand Final will be opened by the famous singers Mariza and Ana Moura, both representatives of that traditional Portuguese music genre fado, which dates back to the 19th century. As usual, a flag parade to introduce the 26 finalists will also take place, with live music by the duo Beatbombers, which consists of Stereossauro and DJ Ride.

According to tradition, last year’s Eurovision winner will appear on the show. Having now managed to overcome his serious health issue, Salvador Sobral will take to the stage to perform his victorious entry Amar pelos dois, but this time in a duet with the Brazilian composer and singer Caetano Veloso.

As another part of the interval act, the internationally renowned Portuguese DJ Branko will be playing electronic music, featuring the Portuguese singers Sara Tavares (Portuguese entrant in 1994), Mayra Andrade and Dino D’Santiago.

The voting procedure

Jury Voting

During yesterday’s Jury Rehearsal, the 5-member national juries voted for their favourite songs. The results of all 43 juries will be the first to be announced by each country’s spokesperson, as a set of 1-8, 10 and 12 points, which will emerge from the recently-revamped jury voting system, which was presented as the “exponential weight model”.

Televoting

But we’ll only be halfway to the winner’s crown. Shortly after the presentation of all 26 competing entries, the voting lines will open. All 43 countries taking place in this year’s contest will have their say on the final outcome, as they will get the chance to vote for their favourite entries. Following the announcement of their jury results, the countries will award their traditional set of 1-8, 10 and 12 points to their 10 most voted acts.

And the winner is…!

At the show’s final part and one breath away from finding out who the winner is, the hosts will be revealing only the total amount of points that each country has been awarded from the public, beginning from the least favourite and gradually proceeding to the most favourite entry. The total amount of points that each country has earned will be added to its jury score.

Then it’s simple; the country with the highest number of points wins!

Right after the end of the Grand Final, the split results from all 43 countries, as well as those from the two semi-final shows, will be officially unveiled by the EBU.

Tonight, the 63rd Eurovision Song Contest will go through history, announcing its winner. Who would like to see reaching the top?