How to Watch the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 Online

If you’ve been yelling, “Play ‘Jaja Ding Dong’!” for the past two years, then you’re probably interested in watching the real-life spectacle that is the Eurovision Song Contest.

Eurovision is an international music competition whose participants come from (mostly) European countries that belong to the European Broadcasting Union. Performances are often over-the-top and highly entertaining. As Deadline notes, it helped launch the careers of ABBA, Celine Dion, and Olivia Newton-John.

Each country can put forward one original song that clocks in at three minutes or less; points are awarded by a professional jury and televoting viewers. The country that wins Eurovision hosts it the following year. This year, the contest takes place in Turin, since Italy won in 2021 with “Zitti e buoni” by Måneskin. 2020’s contest was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Despite the worldwide popularity of the campy phenomenon, it’s long been difficult to watch the competition in the US, so interest among Americans has lagged. Netflix moved to change that when it secured the rights to the 2019 and 2020 shows, and produced the original film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams.

In 2022, however, streaming rights once again go to NBC’s Peacock. The first semi-final airs Tuesday, May 10 at 3 p.m. ET. The second semi-final airs Thursday, May 12 at 3 p.m. ET. The Grand Final airs on Saturday, May 14 at 3 p.m. ET. Non-subscribers can watch the ad-supported stream for free, as was the case last year. However, you need a premium account if you want to ditch ads or watch the 2021 show. If you don’t want to sign up for Peacock, you can use a VPN, connect to an Australian server, and stream the show via SBS On Demand.

While it won’t stream live on YouTube, the Eurovision Song Contest channel has rehearsals, semi-final performances, and other related content. Last year, we were big fans of Ukraine’s Go_A and their over-the-top song “Shum,” whose official video has a Mad Max vibe, complete with an eagle and a snowy outdoor rave. Ukraine is participating again this year as one of 40 entries, but Russia has been banned following its invasion of the country. Read our guide for more on how to help Ukraine.

For more on streaming, check out five reasons to ditch your video subscription and keep cable. Learn how to pick streaming services that fit your budget, and let you enjoy all sorts of reality show trash. Finally, check out our recommended streaming video guides if you don’t know what to watch.