The first evening dress rehearsal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is complete. As the dust settled on Malmö Arena, The Eurovision 2024 Audience Poll team asked members of the audience who their favourite act of the night was. This resulted in a resounding victory for Croatia’s Baby Lasagna, collecting a whopping 37.9% of the vote with, ‘Rim Tim Tagi Dim’.
The Eurovision 2024 Audience Poll – SF1
In this second edition of The Eurovision 2024 Audience Poll, run by a collective of fan media platforms (ESCXTRA.com, ESC Insight, The Euro Trip Podcast, That Eurovision Site, 12 Points From America and OGAE Sweden), the podium was a clean sweep for the most outrageous stage shows. Following Croatia at a distance, we see Ireland as the surprise hit of the night as Bambie Thug placed second with 445 votes, (16.09%). Finland’s Windows95Man took third place with 210 votes, (7.59%).
Below the top three, it is proving to be a hotly contested battle for the remaining top ten spots. As shown when one looks at the chances bookmakers give each act to qualify. In a surprising turn of events, Ukraine, who many consider to be one of the overall favourites, only placed fifth, (6.76%). Another shock to many, is Australia’s result in the Eurovision Audience Poll. Despite the bookmakers considering their chances to be borderline, they finished in sixth place, (5.53%).
Both Cyprus (4.81%) and Portugal (3.33%) were safe qualifiers with the audience at Monday night’s dress rehearsal. Rounding off the top ten, we see Tali for Luxembourg (2.82%) and Poland’s Luna (2.75%). Just missing out are Slovenia (1.48%) in eleventh spot. At the bottom of the scoreboard, we see Serbia (1.16%), Iceland (1.01%), Moldova (0.90%) and Azerbaijan (0.65%), with FAHREE ft. Ilkin Dovlatov receiving just 18 votes from the public.
Analysis of the Eurovision Audience Poll results
Compared to previous expectations from bookmakers, fans and the ESCXTRA.com Press Poll, there are some surprising conclusions. In both the Press Poll and the Audience Poll, it’s Slovenia who narrowly miss out on the top ten. Yet neither poll could agree on the winner, with Ireland taking the Press Poll, while Croatia stormed the Audience Poll. Perhaps reflecting the unpredictable nature of this years’ contest compared to previous years.
Last year in Liverpool, it was clear from the second Audience Poll that Belgium’s, ‘Because of You’ had strong televote potential. So it proved, with Gustaph’s eventual seventh place in the Grand Final. This year, early indications are that Ireland may have found their Eurovision mojo again and are heading towards their best result for many years, after placing second in the poll.
One country doing less well than anticipated beforehand is Poland. After struggling to grab the attention of those watching in the press centre, the evening show guests could only manage to find 76 votes for Luna. While tenth place is still qualification, that will be a concern. It raises the question of whether diaspora alone will pull Poland through, if viewers are disengaged from the performance.
Also surprising is the good result for Australia. Electric Fields’ One Milkali (One Blood) has been seen as an unlikely qualifier to the Grand Final with bookmakers for a while now, but they now find themselves in sixth place. Does Australian fans being the fourth biggest ticket purchasers for semi-final one have something to do with this or have bookmakers been underestimating Electric Fields’ chances to progress to the Grand Final?
The Eurovision 2024 Audience Poll returns on Wednesday
The first Semi-Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 will take place tonight at 20:00 BST. Fifteen acts will battle for ten tickets to the Grand Final on Saturday. Make sure you tune in to find out who will make it through.
On Wednesday, the Eurovision Audience Poll will return for its second outing. Our team will once again hit the streets of Malmö to ask the audience about their favourites after watching the second dress rehearsal of the second semifinal. Members of ESCXTRA.com, ESC Insight, The Euro Trip Podcast, That Eurovision Site, 12 Points From America and OGAE Sweden will join forces again to make sure we will all know what the audience thought of the second Semi-Final.
