The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the 2015 contest with the song "Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT), the contest was held at the Globe Arena and consisted of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May, and the final on 14 May 2016. The three live shows were presented by Petra Mede and last year's winner Måns Zelmerlöw.
Forty-two countries participated in the contest. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia and Ukraine returned after absences from recent contests, while Australia also returned after debuting as a special guest in 2015. Portugal did not enter, largely due to their national broadcaster's insufficient promotion of their music-based media, while Romania had planned to participate, but was disqualified due to repeated non-payment of debts by their national broadcaster to the EBU.
The winner was Ukraine with the song "1944", performed and written by Jamala. Australia, Russia, Bulgaria and host country Sweden rounded out the top five. This was the first time since the introduction of professional jury voting in 2009 that the overall winner won neither the jury vote, which was won by Australia, nor the televote, which was won by Russia, with Ukraine placing second in both.
The Czech Republic managed to qualify for the final for the first time in five attempts since its debut in 2007, while both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Greece failed to qualify from the semi-finals for the first time ever, the latter being absent from the final for the first time since 2000. In the final, Australia's second place finish was an improvement on its fifth place finish in 2015, while Bulgaria finished fourth, its best result since its debut and first participation in a final since 2007.
The contest was the first to implement a voting system change since 1975: each country's professional jury points were announced largely as before, while the results of each national televote were combined and announced in reverse order. It was also the first contest to be broadcast on live television in the United States, and the EBU recorded a record-breaking 204 million viewers worldwide for the contest, beating the 2015 viewing figures by over 5 million.
Results[]
First semi-final[]
| Rank | Country | EBU member station | Artist(s) | Song | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russia | VGTRK | Sergey Lazarev | "You Are the Only One" | 342 |
| 2 | Armenia | ARMTV | Iveta Mukuchyan | "LoveWave" | 243 |
| 3 | Malta | PBS | Ira Losco | "Walk on Water" | 209 |
| 4 | Hungary | MTVA | Freddie | "Pioneer" | 197 |
| 5 | Netherlands | AVROTROS | Douwe Bob | "Slow Down" | 197 |
| 6 | Azerbaijan | İTV | Samra | "Miracle" | 185 |
| 7 | Austria | ORF | Zoë | "Loin d'ici" | 170 |
| 8 | Cyprus | CyBC | Minus One | "Alter Ego" | 164 |
| 9 | Czech Republic | ČT | Gabriela Gunčíková | "I Stand" | 161 |
| 10 | Croatia | HRT | Nina Kraljić | "Lighthouse" | 133 |
| 11 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | BHRT | Dalal & Deen feat. Ana Rucner and Jala | "Ljubav je" | 104 |
| 12 | San Marino | SMRTV | Serhat | "I Didn't Know" | 68 |
| 13 | Montenegro | RTCG | Highway | "The Real Thing" | 60 |
| 14 | Iceland | RÚV | Greta Salóme | "Hear Them Calling" | 51 |
| 15 | Finland | Yle | Sandhja | "Sing It Away" | 51 |
| 16 | Greece | ERT | Argo | "Utopian Land" | 44 |
| 17 | Moldova | TRM | Lidia Isac | "Falling Stars" | 33 |
| 18 | Estonia | ERR | Jüri Pootsmann | "Play" | 24 |
Second semi-final[]
| Rank | Country | EBU member station | Artist(s) | Song | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | SBS | Dami Im | "Sound of Silence" | 330 |
| 2 | Ukraine | NTU | Jamala | "1944" | 287 |
| 3 | Belgium | VRT | Laura Tesoro | "What's The Pressure" | 274 |
| 4 | Lithuania | LRT | Donny Montell | "I've Been Waiting for This Night" | 222 |
| 5 | Bulgaria | BNT | Poli Genova | "If Love Was a Crime" | 220 |
| 6 | Poland | TVP | Michał Szpak | "Color of Your Life" | 151 |
| 7 | Israel | IBA | Hovi Star | "Made of Stars" | 147 |
| 8 | Latvia | LTV | Justs | "Heartbeat" | 132 |
| 9 | Georgia | GPB | Nika Kocharov and Young Georgian Lolitaz | "Midnight Gold" | 123 |
| 10 | Serbia | RTS | Sanja Vučić ZAA | "Goodbye (Shelter)" | 105 |
| 11 | Macedonia | MRT | Kaliopi | "Dona" (Дона) | 88 |
| 12 | Belarus | BTRC | IVAN | "Help You Fly" | 84 |
| 13 | Norway | NRK | Agnete | "Icebreaker" | 63 |
| 14 | Slovenia | RTVSLO | ManuElla | "Blue and Red" | 57 |
| 15 | Ireland | RTÉ | Nicky Byrne | "Sunlight" | 46 |
| 16 | Albania | RTSH | Eneda Tarifa | "Fairytale" | 45 |
| 17 | Denmark | DR | Lighthouse X | "Soldiers of Love" | 34 |
| 18 | Switzerland | SRG SSR | Rykka | "The Last of Our Kind" | 28 |
Finals[]
Country in gold is the winning entry, the country in silver is the host country, and the countries in lime are the "Big 5" countries which are rewarded with automatic spots in the finals.
| Rank | Country | EBU member station | Artist | Song | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ukraine | NTU | Jamala | "1944" | 534 |
| 2 | Australia | SBS | Dami Im | "Sound of Silence" | 511 |
| 3 | Russia | VGTRK | Sergey Lazarev | "You're the Only One" | 491 |
| 4 | Bulgaria | BNT | Poli Genova | "If Love Was A Crime" | 307 |
| 5 | Sweden | SVT | Frans | "If I Were Sorry" | 261 |
| 6 | France | France Télévisions | Amir | "J'ai cherché" | 257 |
| 7 | Armenia | ARMTV | Iveta Mukuchyan | "LoveWave" | 249 |
| 8 | Poland | TVP | Michał Szpak | "Color of Your Life" | 229 |
| 9 | Lithuania | LRT | Donny Montell | "I've Been Waiting for This Night" | 200 |
| 10 | Belgium | VRT | Laura Tesoro | "What's the Pressure" | 181 |
| 11 | Netherlands | AVROTROS | Douwe Bob | "Slow Down" | 153 |
| 12 | Malta | PBS | Ira Losco | "Walk on Water" | 153 |
| 13 | Austria | ORF | Zoë | "Loin d'ici" | 151 |
| 14 | Israel | IBA | Hovi Star | "Made of Stars" | 135 |
| 15 | Latvia | LTV | Justs | "Heartbeat" | 132 |
| 16 | Italy | RAI | Francesca Michielin | "No Degree of Separation" | 124 |
| 17 | Azerbaijan | İTV | Samra | "Miracle" | 117 |
| 18 | Serbia | RTS | Sanja Vučić ZAA | "Goodbye (Shelter)" | 115 |
| 19 | Hungary | MTVA | Freddie | "Pioneer" | 108 |
| 20 | Georgia | GPB | Nika Kocharov and Young Georgian Lolitaz | "Midnight Gold" | 104 |
| 21 | Cyprus | CyBC | Minus One | "Alter Ego" | 96 |
| 22 | Spain | RTVE | Barei | "Say Yay!" | 77 |
| 23 | Croatia | HRT | Nina Kraljić | "Lighthouse" | 73 |
| 24 | United Kingdom | BBC | Joe & Jake | "You're Not Alone" | 62 |
| 25 | Czech Republic | ČT | Gabriela Gunčíková | "I Stand" | 41 |
| 26 | Germany | ARD/NDR | Jamie-Lee | "Ghost" | 11 |
Awards[]
Marcel Bezençon Awards[]
- Artistic Award - "1944" by Jamala (Ukraine)
- Composers Award - "Sound of Silence" by Dami Im (Australia)
- Press Award - "You Are the Only One" by Sergey Lazarev (Russia)
OGAE Poll[]
| Rank | Country | Artist(s) | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | Amir | "J'ai cherché" | 425 |
| 2 | Russia | Sergey Lazarev | "You Are the Only One" | 392 |
| 3 | Australia | Dami Im | "Sound of Silence" | 280 |
| 4 | Bulgaria | Poli Genova | "If Love Was a Crime" | 175 |
| 5 | Italy | Francesca Michielin | "No Degree of Separation" | 170 |
Barbara Dex Award[]
| Rank | Country | Artist(s) | Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Croatia | Nina Kraljić | "Lighthouse" |
| 2 | Germany | Jamie-Lee | "Ghost" |
| 3 | Switzerland | Rykka | "The Last of Our Kind" |
| 4 | Bulgaria | Poli Genova | "If Love Was a Crime" |
| 5 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Dalal and Deen feat. Ana Rucner and Jala | "Ljubav je" |
Broadcast[]
Participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) | Shows | Spokesperson |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | TVSH, RTSH HD, RTSH Muzikë, Radio Tirana | Andri Xhahu | all shows | Andri Xhahu |
| Armenia | Armenia 1, Public Radio of Armenia | Avet Barseghyan | all shows | Arman Margaryan |
| Australia | SBS, SBS Radio 4 | Julia Zemiro, Sam Pang | all shows | Lee Lin Chin |
| Austria | ORF eins | Andi Knoll | all shows | Kati Bellowitsch |
| Azerbaijan | İTV | Azer Suleymanli | all shows | Tural Asadov |
| Belarus | Belarus 1, Belarus 24 | Evgeny Perlin | all shows | Uzari |
| Belgium (Dutch) | één | Peter Van de Veire | all shows | Umesh Vangaver |
| Belgium (French) | La Une | Jean-Louis Lahaye, Maureen Louys | ||
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | BHT 1, BHT HD, BH Radio 1 | Dejan Kukrić | all shows | Ivana Crnogorac |
| Bulgaria | BNT1, BNT HD | Elena Rosberg, Georgi Kushvaliev | all shows | Anna Angelova |
| Croatia | HRT 1 | Duško Ćurlić | all shows | Nevena Rendeli |
| HR 2 | Zlatko Turkalj Turki | |||
| Cyprus | RIK 1, RIK SAT, RIK HD, Trito Programma | Melina Karageorgiou | all shows | Loukas Hamatsos |
| Czech Republic | ČT2 | Libor Bouček | semi-finals | Daniela Písařovicová |
| ČT1 | finals | |||
| Denmark | DR1 | Ole Tøpholm | all shows | Ulla Essendrop |
| Estonia (Estonian) | ETV | Marko Reikop | all shows | Daniel Levi Viinalass |
| Raadio 2 | Mart Juur and Andrus Kivirähk | first semi-finals and finals | ||
| Estonia (Russian) | ETV+ | Aleksandr Hobotov | all shows | |
| Finland (Finnish) | Yle TV2, TV Finland | Mikko Silvennoinen | all shows | Jussi-Pekka Rantanen |
| Yle Radio Suomi | Sanna Pirkkalainen, Jorma Hietamäki | |||
| Finland (Swedish) | Yle TV2, TV Finland, Yle Radio Vega | Eva Frantz, Johan Lindroos | ||
| France | France 4 | Marianne James, Jarry | semi-finals | Élodie Gossuin |
| France 2 | Marianne James, Stéphane Bern | finals | ||
| Georgia | 1TV | Tuta Chkheidze, Nika Katsia | all shows | Nina Sublatti |
| Germany | EinsFestival, Phoenix | Peter Urban | semi-finals | Barbara Schöneberger |
| Das Erste | finals | |||
| Greece | ERT1, ERT HD, ERT World, Second Programme, Voice of Greece | Maria Kozakou, Giorgos Kapoutzidis | all shows | Constantinos Christoforou |
| Hungary | Duna | Gábor Gundel Takács | all shows | Csilla Tatár |
| Iceland | RÚV, Rás 2 | Gísli Marteinn Baldursson | all shows | Unnsteinn Manúel Stefánsson |
| Ireland | RTÉ2 | Marty Whelan | semi-finals | Sinéad Kennedy |
| RTÉ One | finals | |||
| RTÉ Radio 1 | Neil Doherty, Zbyszek Zalinski | second semi-finals and finals | ||
| Israel (Hebrew) | Channel 1 | Hebrew subtitles | first semi-final (delayed) second semi-finals & finals (live) |
Ofer Nachshon |
| IBA 88FM | Kobi Menora, Or Vaxman, Nancy Brandes | second semi-finals & finals | ||
| Israel (Arabic) | Channel 33 | Arabic subtitles | second semi-finals & finals | |
| Italy | Rai 4 | Filippo Solibello, Marco Ardemagni | semi-finals | Claudia Andreatti |
| Rai Radio 2 | all shows | |||
| Rai 1 | Flavio Insinna, Federico Russo | finals | ||
| Latvia | LTV 1 | Valters Frīdenbergs | all shows | Toms Grēviņš |
| Toms Grēviņš | finals | |||
| Lithuania | LRT, LRT HD, LRT Radijas | Darius Užkuraitis | all shows | Ugnė Galadauskaitė |
| Macedonia | MRT 1 | Karolina Petkovska | all shows | Dijana Gogova |
| Malta | TVM | Arthur Caruana | all shows | Ben Camille |
| Moldova | Moldova 1, Radio Moldova, Radio Moldova Muzical, Radio Moldova Tineret | Gloria Gorceag | all shows | Olivia Furtună |
| Montenegro | TVCG 1, TVCG SAT | Dražen Bauković, Tijana Mišković | all shows | Danijel Alibabić |
| Netherlands | NPO 1, BVN | Jam Smit, Cornald Maas | all shows | Trijntje Oosterhuis |
| Douwe Bob | second semi-final | |||
| Norway | NRK1 | Olav Viksmo Slettan | all shows | Elisabeth Andreassen |
| NRK3 | Ronny Brede Aase, Silje Reiten Nordnes, Markus Ekrem Neby | finals | ||
| NRK P1 | Ole Christian Øen | second semi-finals and finals | ||
| Poland | TVP1, TVP Polonia, TVP Rozrywka, TVP HD | Artur Orzech | all shows | Anna Popek |
| Russia | Russia-1, Russia HD | Dmitry Guberniev, Ernest Mackevičius | all shows | Nyusha |
| San Marino | SMtv San Marino, Radio San Marino | Lia Fiorio, Gigi Restivo | all shows | Irol MC |
| Serbia | RTS 1, RTS HD, RTS Sat | Dragan Ilić | first semi-finals | Dragana Kosjerina |
| Duška Vučinić | second semi-finals and finals | |||
| Slovenia | RTV SLO2 | Andrej Hofer | semi-finals | Marjetka Vovk |
| RTV SLO1 | finals | |||
| Radio Val 202 | second semi-finals & finals | |||
| Radio Maribor | all shows | |||
| Spain | La 2 | José María Íñigo, Julia Varela | semi-finals | Jota Abril |
| La 1 | finals | |||
| Sweden | SVT1 | Lotta Bromé | all shows | Gina Dirawi |
| SR P4 | Carolina Norén, Björn Kjellman | |||
| Switzerland (German) | SRF zwei | Sven Epiney | semi-finals | Sebalter |
| SRF 1 | finals | |||
| SRF 1, Radio SRF 3 | Peter Schneider, Gabriel Vetter | finals | ||
| Switzerland (French) | RTS Deux | Jean-Marc Richard, Nicolas Tanner | second semi-finals and finals | |
| Switzerland (Italian) | RSI La 2 | Clarissa Tami | second semi-finals | |
| RSI La 1 | Clarissa Tami, Michele "Cerno" Carobbio | finals | ||
| Ukraine | UA:Pershyi | Timur Miroshnychenko, Tetiana Terekhova | all shows | Verka Serduchka |
| Radio Ukraine | Olena Zelinchenko | |||
| United Kingdom | BBC Four | Scott Mills, Mel Giedroyc | semi-finals | Richard Osman |
| BBC One | Graham Norton | finals | ||
| BBC Radio 2 | Ken Bruce |
Non-participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentators | Shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | Hunan TV | Kubert Leung, Wu Zhoutong | all shows |
| Kazakhstan | Khabar TV | Diana Snegina, Kaldybek Zhaysanbay | all shows |
| Kosovo | RTK | Unknown | all shows |
| New Zealand | BBC UKTV | Graham Norton | finals |
| Portugal | RTP1 | Hélder Reis, Nuno Galopim | all shows |
| Slovakia | RTVS | Unknown | finals |
| United States | Logo TV | Carson Kressley, Michelle Collins | finals |
Sign language broadcast[]
SVT announced on 22 April 2016 that they would offer International Sign broadcasts of all three live shows for the hearing impaired. All three broadcasts were produced by Julia Kankkonen. The performances of competing entries were interpreted by ten sign language performers and the dialogue of hosts were interpreted by three sign language performers:
- Georg Marsh (Austria)
- Ebru Bilen Basaran (Denmark)
- Markus Aro (Finland)
- Rafael-Evitan Grombelka (Germany)
- Kolbrun Völkudottir (Iceland)
- Laura Levita Valyte (Lithuania)
- Pavel Rodionov (Russia)
- Amina Ouahid (Sweden)
- Tommy Rangsjö (Sweden)
- Xuejia Rennie Zacsko (Sweden)
- Laith Fathulla (Sweden)
The broadcasts were streamed online concurrently with the live broadcasts of the three shows. The following broadcasters also televised the broadcasts:
| Country | Network | Shows |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | ORF2 | finals |
| Denmark | DR Ramasjang | all shows |
| Lithuania | LRT Kultūra | all shows |
| Norway | NRK Tegnspråk | all shows |
| Sweden | SVT24 | all shows |
Broadcast notes[]
- Israel - The first semi-final was broadcast on Channel 1 delayed; the second semi-final and the final were broadcast live.
- Poland - The three shows were broadcast on TVP Rozrywka and TVP HD with a one day delay.