Quiz: how well do you actually know the Eurovision rulebook?
Ten questions. Most people who have watched for years get about six.
The short answer
This is a ten-question quiz on the Eurovision Song Contest rules, covering song length, the performer limit, the age limit, the Big Five, live vocals and the voting system.
A quiz, for fun. The answers are sourced the same way the rest of the site is; the score means nothing.
Ten questions on the rules rather than on the songs, because the rules are the part everyone thinks they know. Answers and explanations appear as you go.
What is the maximum length of a Eurovision song?
Three minutes, and it is enforced absolutely. Songs that exist in a longer form are re-cut for the contest — the Eurovision edit is often a tighter arrangement than the original.
How many performers may appear on stage at once?
Six. It is a staging and camera limit as much as an artistic one — every person on stage has to be tracked by a director cutting between cameras live.
How old must a performer be?
Sixteen, measured on the date of the grand final. The rule was introduced after an eleven-year-old competed for Israel and a twelve-year-old for France in 1989.
Which of these is NOT one of the Big Five?
The Big Five are France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom — the five broadcasters contributing the most to the contest budget. The Netherlands has to qualify like everyone else.
Since 2023, who decides the semi-final results?
Public televoting alone. Juries were removed from the semi-finals entirely in 2023 and now vote only in the grand final, which changed the kind of entry that survives to Saturday.
Which is true about instruments on the Eurovision stage?
There has been no orchestra since 1998 and no live instrumentation is amplified. All instrumental music comes from the backing track, so a guitar you can see being played is frequently not the guitar you can hear.
Since 2021, what may be pre-recorded?
Backing vocals, at each delegation's choice. The lead vocal must still be live. The change quietly narrowed the gap between rich and poor delegations, because a small budget no longer has to fly six people in for a choral sound.
A song must not have been publicly released before which date?
1 September of the preceding year. It stops a country entering something the whole continent has already been streaming, which would make the contest a chart show.
Which country has finished a final on zero points most often?
Norway — which has also won three times. The same country holds a serious share of both records, and the 2016 scoring change has made a total of zero far harder to reach since.
Who chooses the host city?
The winning broadcaster, in consultation with the EBU. For 2027 that means BNT — so a statement from a mayor is a bid being advocated, not a decision being announced.
Where the answers come from
Every answer above is drawn from the same sources as the rest of the site. The full versions are in the Eurovision rules explained, how the semi-finals work and nul points.
One caveat worth repeating: the EBU republishes its rules for each contest, and the backing-vocal and jury rules have both changed within the last five years. Nothing here is guaranteed to carry into Bulgaria 2027 until the rules for that contest are published.
FAQ
How many questions are in this Eurovision quiz?
Ten, covering the contest rules — song length, the performer limit, the age limit, the Big Five, live vocals and the voting system.
What is a good score on a Eurovision rules quiz?
Six out of ten is a typical score for someone who has watched the contest for years. The rules that catch people out are usually the backing-vocal rule and the 2023 change to semi-final voting.