🔵 2022 Eurovision Song Contest from Turin/Italy 1. SEMIFINAL (German commentary by Peter Urban)

Dates: Semi-final 1: 10 May 2022 - Semi-final 2: 12 May 2022 - Final: 14 May 2022
Host venue: PalaOlimpico, Turin, Italy
Presenters: Alessandro Cattelan, Laura Pausini, Mika
Directed by: Cristian Biondani, Duccio Forzano - Executive supervisor: Martin Österdahl
Executive producers: Claudio Fasulo, Simona Martorelli - Host broadcaster: Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI)

The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the 2021 contest with the song "Zitti e buoni" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI), the contest was held at the PalaOlimpico, and consisted of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May, and a final on 14 May 2022. The three live shows were presented by Italian television presenter Alessandro Cattelan, Italian singer Laura Pausini and Lebanese-born British singer Mika.

Forty countries participated in the contest, with Armenia and Montenegro returning after their absence from the previous edition. Russia had originally planned to participate, but was excluded due to its invasion of Ukraine.

The winner was Ukraine 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 United Kingdom finished in second place for a record-extending sixteenth time, also achieving its best result since 1998. Spain, Sweden and Serbia rounded out the top five, with Spain achieving its best result since 1995. 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 Italian government allocated around €1.5 million as part of the budget needed to host the event, while the municipality of Turin and the regional government of Piedmont contributed around €10 million in total. The preliminary total budget for the shows was €16.3 million. The full costs was not officially published, but is estimated to be at approximately €22 million.

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.

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final took place on 10 May 2022 at 21:00 (CEST). Seventeen countries participated in this semi-final, with the running order published on 29 March 2022. Ukraine won the most points, followed by the Netherlands, Greece, Portugal, Armenia, Norway, Lithuania, Moldova, Switzerland, and Iceland. The countries that failed to reach the final were Croatia, Albania, Denmark, Latvia, Austria, Bulgaria, and Slovenia. All the countries competing in this semi-final were eligible to vote, plus France and Italy. Russia was originally allocated to participate in the second half of this semi-final, but was excluded from the contest due to its invasion of Ukraine.

This semi-final was opened by a performance showcasing Italian ingenuity and creativity, accompanied by the official anthem of the contest, "The Sound of Beauty", performed by Sherol Dos Santos, while the interval featured a medley of "Horizon in Your Eyes", "Satisfaction" and "Golden Nights " performed by Dardust, Benny Benassi and Sophie and the Giants with conductor Sylvia Catasta, a brief homage to Raffaella Carrà by the contest presenters, and Diodato performing "Fai rumore". The French and Italian artists were then interviewed, and clips of their competing songs were played.

Participants and results of the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022

R/O Country Artist Song Points Place
1 Albania Ronela Hajati "Sekret" 58 12
2 Latvia Citi Zēni "Eat Your Salad" 55 14
3 Lithuania Monika Liu "Sentimentai" 159 7
4 Switzerland Marius Bear "Boys Do Cry" 118 9
5 Slovenia LPS "Disko" 15 17
6 Ukraine Kalush Orchestra "Stefania" 337 1
7 Bulgaria Intelligent Music Project "Intention" 29 16
8 Netherlands S10 "De diepte" 221 2
9 Moldova Zdob și Zdub and Advahov Brothers "Trenulețul" 154 8
10 Portugal Maro "Saudade, saudade" 208 4
11 Croatia Mia Dimšić "Guilty Pleasure" 75 11
12 Denmark Reddi "The Show" 55 13
13 Austria Lumix feat. Pia Maria "Halo" 42 15
14 Iceland Systur "Með hækkandi sól" 103 10
15 Greece Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord "Die Together" 211 3
16 Norway Subwoolfer "Give That Wolf a Banana" 177 6
17 Armenia Rosa Linn "Snap" 187 5