Eurovision Song Contest attracts two million more viewers than FA Cup Final
Eurovision attracted more viewers than the FA Cup Final on the BBC (Martin Meissner/AP) This article is brought to you by our exclusive subscriber partnership with our sister title USA Today, and has been written by our American colleagues. It does not necessarily reflect the view of The Herald.
The Eurovision Song Contest grand final attracted two million more TV viewers than the FA Cup Final, the BBC has said.
Saturday's event in Basel, Switzerland, which saw Remember Monday compete for the UK and Austria's JJ win the competition, achieved a peak of 7.9 million viewers, with an average of 6.7 million viewers.
It represents a decline on the average viewing figures of last year's contest in Malmo, Sweden, which was won by Swiss entrant Nemo, which saw 7.9 million on average tune in, with a peak of 8.5 million. The BBC said Eurovision viewing figures peaked during Remember Monday's performance (Martin Meissner/AP)
The 2025 final's viewing peak came when Remember Monday, made up of Lauren Byrne, Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele, performed their song What The Hell Just Happened?, which finished 19th in the final table with 88 points.
The figures for linear viewing beat the men's FA Cup Final coverage on both ITV and the BBC according to the corporation, which saw Crystal Palace win their first major trophy beating Manchester City 1-0.
Eurovision's 2025 final also saw Israeli singer Yuval Raphael, who is an October 7 survivor, finish as runner-up.
The singer was left 'shaken and upset' after pro-Palestinian protesters rushed towards a barrier when she was on stage on Saturday night, her team said.
Swiss police confirmed two people were handed over to them and that they were later released, while the organiser, Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR, released a statement saying that a crew member was hit with paint but is 'fine'.
Despite much speculation that former Swiss winner and Canadian singer Celine Dion might give a performance at Eurovision, she did not appear at the final on Saturday.
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