The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It consisted of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May and a final on 14 May 2022, held at the in Turin, Italy, and presented by Alessandro Cattelan, Laura Pausini and Mika. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RAI), which staged the event after winning the for with the song "" by Måneskin.
Broadcasters from forty countries participated in the contest, with and returning after their absence from the previous edition. had originally planned to participate, but was excluded due to its invasion of Ukraine.
The winner was with the song "Stefania", performed by Kalush Orchestra and written by the group's members Ihor Didenchuk, Oleh Psiuk, Tymofii Muzychuk and Vitalii Duzhyk, along with Ivan Klymenko. The finished in second place for a record-extending sixteenth time, also achieving its best result since . , and rounded out the top five, with Spain achieving its best result since . Ukraine won the televote with 439 points, the most received in the contest's history to date, and came fourth in the jury vote behind the United Kingdom, Sweden and Spain. "Stefania" is the first song sung entirely in Ukrainian and the first song with hip-hop elements to win the contest.
The EBU reported that the contest had a television audience of 161 million viewers in 34 European markets, a decrease of 22 million viewers from the previous edition, however, it is noted that this is due to the exclusion of Russia and the lack of audience figures from Ukraine, with the overall figures up by 7 million viewers in a comparable market from 2021. An increase of three per cent in the 15–24 year old age range was also reported. A total of 18 million viewers watched the contest online on YouTube and TikTok.
Location
The 2022 contest took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the 2021 edition with the song "", performed by Måneskin. It was the third time that Italy had hosted the contest, having previously done so for the and contests, held in Naples and Rome respectively. The selected venue was the 13,300-seat , a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Santa Rita district, which serves as a venue for events including concerts, exhibitions, trade fairs, conferences, and sports (mainly those requiring an ice rink, such as ice hockey and curling). had previously hosted the ice hockey events at the 2006 Winter Olympics, and the opening ceremonies of the 2007 Winter Universiade and hosted the same event in 2025.
The venue was at full capacity for the contest, after the previous edition in Rotterdam saw a limited audience of 3,500 people as a precaution against the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the audience in Turin was required to wear masks at all times inside the venue, unlike in Rotterdam where mask-wearing was not enforced whenever the audience was seated. Nearly all COVID-19 prevention measures for the contest were dropped by 11 May 2022, the day before the second semi-final, with testing only required whenever symptoms were exhibited.
In addition to the main venue, the host city also organised side events in tandem with the contest. The Eurovision Village was the official Eurovision Song Contest fan and sponsors area during the event weeks, where it was possible to watch performances by contest participants and local artists, as well as the live shows broadcast from the main venue. It was located at and open from 7 to 14 May 2022. The EuroClub, which took place across ten different locations in Turin, hosted the official after-parties and private performances by contest participants. Unlike in previous years, access to the EuroClub was not restricted to accredited fans, delegates and press. The "Turquoise Carpet" and Opening Ceremony events, where the contestants and their delegations were presented before the accredited press and fans, took place at the Palace of Venaria on 8 May 2022.
Bidding phase
Between 23 and 28 May 2021, many cities across Italy expressed interest in hosting the contest. Representatives from the cities of Bologna, Milan, Pesaro, Naples and Turin voiced their interest, as well as the Mayor of Reggio Emilia, Luca Vecchi, who hoped to host the contest in the new , the largest open-air arena in Europe with a capacity of 100,000 spectators. The mayors of Rome, Rimini and Florence soon after also expressed interest in hosting the contest and were joined by Sanremo, Verona and Bari. , member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, also suggested that if Rimini were to host the contest, it should be a co-production with San Marino RTV.
Host broadcaster RAI launched the bidding process on 7 July 2021. In the first phase of this process, any interested cities were to present their bid through certified email by 12 July, after which RAI and the EBU would proceed to send all of them a bid book with more detailed requirements for the cities to submit their plans for review.
On 9 July 2021, the city of Turin officially announced its bid. On the same day, the city of Pesaro did the same, proposing the Vitrifrigo Arena as a possible venue to host the event. They were followed by Bologna and Jesolo on 12 July, and Rimini and Bertinoro (jointly with Forlì and Cesena) on 13 July. On 13 July, RAI announced that 17 cities had submitted their bid for hosting the contest and would be provided the following day with the bid books. They had until 4 August to draft and submit their detailed plans, which 11 cities did. On 24 August, it was reported that Bologna, Milan, Pesaro, Rimini and Turin would be the cities left in the running to host the contest.
The choice among them was meant to be announced by the end of August; however, this did not materialise, and in mid-September , director of Rai 1, stated that the selection was behind time to ensure "transparency and precision". On 8 October 2021, the EBU and RAI announced Turin as the host city, with the as the chosen venue for the contest.
Key: Host venue Shortlisted Presented the bid book City Venue Notes Acireale — Alessandria Proposal was dependent on the construction of a roof to cover the area; would have needed renovation works. Bertinoro Candidacy supported by Forlì, Cesena and the Legislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna. Bologna ‡ Candidacy supported by the Legislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna. Unipol Arena Florence Nelson Mandela Forum Candidacy supported by the Regional Council of Tuscany. Genoa Was undergoing renovation works. Jesolo Did not meet the EBU requirements of size. area Proposal was dependent on the construction of a roof to cover the area. Matera Proposal was dependent on the construction of a roof to cover the area. Milan Mediolanum Forum Did not meet the EBU requirements of size. Candidacy supported by the regional government of Lombardy. ‡ Would have needed adjustment works. Ad hoc arena to be built Would have needed the cooperation of other municipalities in Syracuse. Pesaro Vitrifrigo Arena ‡ — Rimini ‡ Candidacy supported by the Legislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna. Rome — Did not meet the EBU requirements of capacity. Sanremo — Trieste Did not meet the EBU requirements of size. Proposal was dependent on the construction of a roof to cover the stadium. Turin † Hosted the ice hockey events at the 2006 Winter Olympics and the opening ceremony of the 2007 Winter Universiade; from 2021 to 2025, it will host the tennis ATP Finals.Candidacy supported by the Turin city council and the Regional Council of Piedmont. Viterbo Did not meet the EBU requirements of size; would have needed renovation works.
Participants
Eligibility for potential participation in the Eurovision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active EBU membership capable of receiving the contest via the Eurovision network and broadcasting it live nationwide. The EBU issued an invitation to participate in the contest to all active members. Associate member did not need an invitation for the 2022 contest, as it had previously been granted permission to participate at least until 2023.
On 20 October 2021, the EBU initially announced that 41 countries would participate in the 2022 contest. The list included all countries that participated in the 2021 contest, along with and , both of which had last taken part in (Armenia was also set to compete in the cancelled edition). On 25 February 2022, the EBU announced that was excluded from the contest due to its invasion of Ukraine, thereby reducing the number of participating countries to 40.
The contest featured five representatives who also previously performed as lead artists for the same country. Nika Kocharov, the guitarist of Circus Mircus, had previously represented alongside Young Georgian Lolitaz; Stoyan Yankoulov, a member of Intelligent Music Project, had represented and alongside Elitsa Todorova; Zdob și Zdub had represented and ; Mahmood had represented ; and Ihor Didenchuk, a member of Kalush Orchestra, had previously represented as a member of Go_A. In addition, Ihan Haydar, who had previously represented as a member of Soluna Samay's backup band, returned as a member of Reddi.
+ Eurovision Song Contest 2022 participants Country Broadcaster Artist Song Language Songwriter(s) RTSH Ronela Hajati "" Albanian, English Ronela Hajati AMPTV Rosa Linn "Snap" English SBS Sheldon Riley "Not the Same" English ORF Lumix Pia Maria "Halo" English İTV Nadir Rustamli "Fade to Black" English RTBF Jérémie Makiese "Miss You" English BNT Intelligent Music Project "Intention" English HRT Mia Dimšić "Guilty Pleasure" English, Croatian CyBC Andromache "" English, Greek ČT We Are Domi "Lights Off" English DR Reddi "The Show" English ERR Stefan "Hope" English Yle The Rasmus "Jezebel" English Alvan and Ahez "" Breton GPB Circus Mircus "Lock Me In" English Circus Mircus NDR Malik Harris "Rockstars" English ERT Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord "Die Together" English RÚV "" Icelandic Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir RTÉ Brooke "That's Rich" English IPBC Michael Ben David "I.M" English RAI Mahmood and Blanco "" Italian LTV "Eat Your Salad" English LRT Monika Liu "" Lithuanian Monika Luibinaitė PBS Emma Muscat "I Am What I Am" English TRM Zdob și Zdub and Advahov Brothers "" Romanian, English RTCG Vladana "Breathe" English, Italian AVROTROS S10 "" Dutch MRT Andrea "Circles" English NRK Subwoolfer "Give That Wolf a Banana" English TVP Ochman "River" English RTP Maro "" English, Portuguese TVR Wrs "" English, Spanish SMRTV Achille Lauro "Stripper" Italian, English RTS Konstrakta "" Serbian, Latin RTVSLO LPS "" Slovene RTVE Chanel "SloMo" Spanish, English SVT Cornelia Jakobs "Hold Me Closer" English SRG SSR Marius Bear "Boys Do Cry" English UA:PBC Kalush Orchestra "Stefania" Ukrainian BBC Sam Ryder "Space Man" English
Other countries Active EBU members
Active EBU member broadcasters in , , , and confirmed non-participation prior to the announcement of the participants list by the EBU. national broadcaster TRT had been in talks with the EBU about a potential return to the contest in 2022, but the country ultimately did not appear on the final list of participants.
Non-EBU members
was excluded from participation in the 2022 contest on 1 July 2021, when the EBU Executive Board agreed to expel its national broadcaster BTRC as a result of its use as a propaganda tool, losing the rights to broadcast and participate in any Eurovision event until 1 July 2024. Conversely, initially appeared on the list of participants; however, following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and subsequent protests from other participating countries, the EBU decided to exclude the country from the contest; Russian member broadcasters, including VGTRK and Channel One, immediately responded by announcing their withdrawal from the union, which was finalised on 26 May 2022 and resulted in Russia indefinitely losing broadcasting and participation rights for future Eurovision events.