Interview: Scott Mills on this year’s Eurovision Semi-Finals

The world’s biggest music competition returns this May as the Eurovision Song Contest, one of the longest-running and most-watched non-sporting events in the world, is broadcast live from Malmö across the BBC. In celebration of the most spectacular music contest on the planet, the BBC is promising viewers and listeners a huge array of Eurovision content across TV, Radio, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sounds and Online.

Sweden will play host to the 2024 contest following the country’s victory in 2023 in Liverpool with ‘Tattoo’ performed by Loreen. This makes it a particularly special year as it’s the 50th anniversary of ABBA winning for Sweden in Brighton in 1974.

This year marks the 68th edition of the competition, where 37 countries will compete, starting with two Semi-Finals that will be broadcast live on Tuesday 7th and Thursday 9th May on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, hosted by commentators Scott Mills and Rylan. Over on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds, Richie Anderson will be taking the reins for the first time, and will be leading the commentary on the airwaves.

The Grand Final will be broadcast live on Saturday 11 May, where Graham Norton will be commentating over on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, and on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds, Scott Mills and Rylan will be overseeing proceedings.

Multi-award winning music superstar Olly Alexander will be representing the UK with his single ‘Dizzy’, released by Polydor (part of Universal Music Group).

What was it like hosting Eurovision on home turf last year?

It was all that I’d hoped for and more, I loved that it was a week long festival in Liverpool. People were going along with their families enjoying days out, they had big screens everywhere, they had so much entertainment going on, so even if you didn’t have a ticket to the arena, you could go along and enjoy the Eurovision experience. It supersized the event and it was brilliant to be at home and have the whole of Liverpool embrace it, it was honestly a magical week.

Do you think hosting in Liverpool last year has bought a new found love of Eurovision to the UK?

Yes! I think it started with Sam Ryder when we came second in Turin in 2022, the fact that we did do so well, plus then taking on the role of host country on behalf of Ukraine, meant that  Eurovision became so talked about that even people who had never watched Eurovision enjoyed it. For me, as a fan that’s great to see, there was definitely a new love for Eurovision and I think that will continue. The Semi-Finals are now on BBC One so it shows you that the audience is there and wanting more.

Have you been to Sweden before?

Yes! Sweden has hosted it twice in recent years, I was there the last time it was in Malmö in 2013, after Loreen first won with Euphoria in 2012, and then I was there again in 2016 when the competition was held in Stockholm. I loved Sweden so much I’ve been back on my own accord, once to Stockholm and one year I went to the Ice Hotel in the north of the country. Sweden is one of my favourite countries and I would have probably never had been there if it wasn’t for the contest.

 What do you think about the UK entry this year?

I had a bit of say in selecting the song and I think Olly Alexander is a world class performer, and I think that just shows you how things have changed in recent years, the fact that someone of that calibre who has so many hits and No1 albums, wants to compete at Eurovision, shows how far we’ve come. We are behind Olly all the way, he is brilliant and the song is really fun. I am hoping for good things.

Other than the UK, do you have any personal favourites from this year’s entries?

I can’t really tell you my personal favourites because I have to keep impartial as a
commentator, however in the run up the big event there are Eurovision pre-parties in Madrid
and Amsterdam plus a recent one in London that Rylan and I hosted together.
The Eurovision hopefuls perform their songs, and so based on the crowd reactions you can
gauge the fan favourites – it’s clear that Croatia with Baby Lasagna could be in with a good
chance, the fans also reacted well to Joost Klein representing the Netherlands, but the act
everyone was talking about was Nemo from Switzerland – it’s a big performance with
ridiculously good vocals, well that’s what the fans are saying at the moment, but I couldn’t
possibly comment!

What can we expect from the Semi-Finals this year?

The Semi-Finals this year once again are on BBC One with Rylan and I providing the
commentary, which is super exciting. You are going to get amazing voices, brilliant staging
and some of the most ridiculous things you’ve ever seen all in one show. Rylan and I spend
a week together every year -we have done since 2017 -and it’s always brilliant fun. I’ve been
hosting the Semi-Finals for 14 years, when very few people knew what they were, mainly
because the UK gets an automatic pass through to the final. Many countries don’t even
make it to the final, but they are so much fun, and so I’m really pleased more people know
about it and get to see the Semi-Finals. Rylan and I are sending pictures to each other, of
what we are going to wear and are already preparing our outfits!