Summary

  • The first of two Eurovision semi-final nights has taken place in the Swiss city of Basel

  • Iceland's answer to Jedward, VÆB, kicked off the show, and we've also seen Ziferblat for Ukraine, singing Bird of Pray

  • Bookmakers' favourite KAJ, from Sweden, performed Bara Bada Bastu, an ode to the restorative powers of the sauna

  • Céline Dion, who won the contest for Switzerland in 1988, delivered a pre-recorded message celebrating the "beautiful" return of the contest to Basel

  • Tonight has seen performances from 18 of the 37 countries in the contest

Live Reporting

Edited by Mark Savage from the Eurovision semi-finals

  1. Welcome to the first semi-final of Eurovision 2025

    Mark Savage
    BBC Music correspondent, reporting from the Eurovision semi-final

    Sweden's KAJ perform the song 'Bara bada bastu' during the dress rehearsal and preview show of the first semi-final of the 69th Eurovision SongEPA-EFE/Shutterstock

    KAJ from Sweden are the bookmakers' favourite

    Here we go again!

    Following Nemo’s win with The Code last year in Malmo, Eurovision returns home to Switzerland, hosts of the very first contest back in 1956.

    Tonight’s semi-final will see performances from 18 of the 37 countries taking part, including the bookmakers’ favourite, KAJ, who are hoping to give Sweden a record eighth win with Bara Bada Bastu – their accordion-led ode to the sauna.

    We'll also see Iceland’s answer to Jedward, VÆB, and Ukraine’s Ziferblat, who are representing their country as the war with Russia stretches into a fourth painful year.

    The action kicks off at 20:00 BST, 21:00 local time in Basel, Switzerland.

    You'll be able to watch the full show by pressing the button at the top of this page. We'll be providing a spattering of text updates.