Key Points
- Sweden's Loreen is the first woman to win the competition twice.
- Finland looked to be winning until Sweden's fan votes were announced.
- Australia's Voyager placed ninth.
Sweden's Loreen has won the Eurovision Song Contest for the second time with an emotional performance of her song Tattoo.
Finland's Käärijä looked to be storming to an upset victory with their song Cha Cha, but fans ultimately voted for Sweden to win with 583 points to Finland's 526.
Finland's Käärijä performs in the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Source: AAP / Aaron Chown/PA/Alamy
"I am seriously overwhelmed," Loreen told reporters.
Comparing her win to 2012, she said: "It's like coming back to a family."
She beat 25 other acts in the final competition which was held in Liverpool on behalf of last year's winners Ukraine.
'Absolutely surreal': Australia's Voyager celebrates ninth place
placed ninth, while Australian-born Andrew Lambrou came in twelfth, representing Cyprus with his song Break a Broken Heart.
Voyager's song Promise won over fans from the 37 countries competing at this year's 67th Eurovision Song Contest.
Australia's Eurovision results over the years have been strong but have not amounted to a winner.
"“Top ten…. We are a progressive pop synth metal band from Perth and we made it into the top ten… let that sink in… oh my god!” Voyager lead singer Danny Estrin said.
"That was absolutely surreal! There aren't enough words to describe how we're feeling," the band wrote on Instagram.
Australia's Voyager performing in the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, where they placed ninth. Source: AAP / Aaron Chown/PA/Alamy
"We are incredibly grateful for this absolutely WILD journey - we wouldn't have done this without you!
Oh and did we mention that WE WON Semi-Final 2?! Because we did, which makes it all even more SYNTHSATIONAL!!" they wrote.
While he's a rock star by night, his day job is a partner at law firm Estrin Saul, arguing in front of judges and helping migrants with visa issues.
Australian fans either woke up early or stayed up all night to watch the broadcast on SBS which kicked off at 5am AEST on Sunday.
Early Sunday morning, Georges River Council hosted Australia's biggest Live Eurovision Broadcast Party in Hurstville attended by around 400 fans.
Around 400 fans dressed up to support their Eurovision favourites at a party in Sydney during the early hours. Source: SBS News
How was Ukraine's 2022 win honoured?
The show opened with a performance by last year's winners, and ended with a medley from former Eurovision stars offering solidarity to war-torn Ukraine.
In a post on Instagram, Ukrainian act Tvorchi claimed that their hometown of Ternopil was bombed by Russian forces while they were performing.
"This is a message for all cities of Ukraine that are shelled every day. Kharkiv, Dnipro, Khmelnytsky, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Uman, Sumy, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Kherson and all others," the group wrote.
"Europe, unite against evil for the sake of peace!"
Local authorities said the strike had injured two people, in a post on Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was barred from addressing worldwide viewers - who numbered 160 million last year - by contest organiser the European Broadcasting Union.
It said that granting his request, which was made with "laudable intentions", would be against the non-political nature of the event and its rules prohibiting making political statements.
What do we know about Eurovision 2024?
Loreen's win is Sweden's seventh and means Sweden will host Eurovision 2024, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Abba's 1974 win with Waterloo.
Luxembourg will be returning to the competition, following their withdrawal in 1993 due to financial constraints.
Loreen's win means she equals the record held by Irish singer Johnny Logan, who triumphed at the contest in both 1980 and 1987.
The singer used impressive staging and sang from an illuminated enclosed space on the stage.
The broadcast also featured a surprise cameo by Catherine, Princess of Wales.
Third-placed Israel was well behind the leaders on 362 points, while Italy placed fourth with 350 points and Norway came in fifth with 268 points.
Germany's glam metal rockers Lord of the Lost placed last with 18 points just behind hosts UK, whose entrant Mae Muller received 24 points.
With additional reporting by AAP.
