The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has released a statement outlining the changes to tonight’s Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final following the Netherlands’ disqualification.

Running Order adjustments:

• All remaining contestants will retain their assigned positions in the official running order.
  There will be no song presented in the originally allocated position number 5, which belonged to the Netherlands.

Jury results recalculated:

• Jury points awarded during Dress Rehearsal 2 on Friday, May 10th, have been recalculated to exclude the Netherlands. This ensures a fair competition as all juries were required to rank every song from 1st to 26th.
  As a consequence, the song previously ranked 10th by a specific jury will now move up to 9th and receive 2 points. The former 11th-ranked song will become 10th and receive 1 point. This adjustment will be applied to all national jury rankings.

Voting information:

• The Netherlands will not receive points from the public vote.
  Dutch viewers are still eligible to participate in the public vote, and their votes will be counted towards other competing entries.
  The EBU will notify telecommunication partners about the Netherlands’ withdrawal, and efforts will be made to block voting lines for Song 5. They strongly advise against attempting to vote for this non-existent entry, as votes will not be counted and viewers may incur charges.

Scoreboard Update:

• The Netherlands’ name and points will not be displayed on the scoreboard throughout the Grand Final.

This information aims to ensure a smooth and transparent competition despite the last-minute disqualification. Stay tuned for further updates on the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final!

Why Not Bring Back a Semi-Final Runner-Up?

An interesting question arises: with a spot unexpectedly vacant, why not reinstate a runner-up from the semi-finals? According to EBU regulations, this is unlikely. Re-introducing a previously eliminated contestant disrupts the flow of the competition and could potentially cause confusion among viewers and national juries.