The songs have been sung. The dances have been danced. The stage has been invaded. It’s make your mind up time at the Eurovision 2018 Song Contest Grand Final in Lisbon, Portugal. It’s the 63rd year of the annual favourite, and all that’s left now is to see who has won as the votes are totted up and the results are announced. You can be involved with a live stream absolutely free – and we’ll tell you how to access it.
Eurovision Song Contest – key dates and times
The Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final is tonight, Saturday May 12. This year’s event is being held in Lisbon after Portugal won last year’s show.
The final itself starts on Sunday, May 12 at 8pm BST (3pm ET, 12pm PT, 5am Monday morning AEST) and will be aired live.
The Grand Final sees 25 European countries (oh, and Australia of course) singing their hearts out for the pride of place as this year’s winner. While that’s not a victory for money, the winner can often end up launching a career off the back of their glory – just look at Abba who won in 1974 and kept topping the charts until 1982. Celine Dion is another who won in 1988 for Switzerland and had a huge career (just don’t mention Gina G!).
This year the final will be hosted by Portugese actresses Filomena Cautela, Silvia Alberto, Daniela Ruah and Catarina Furtado. Voting is determined by small and demographically balanced juries and televoting. So not only can you watch this event, you can be a part of it, too.
While the event will be broadcast by Portugal’s Rádio e Televisão de Portugal it will be possible to tune in from around the world. The UK has the BBC airing everything, Australia gets SBS as the broadcast free-to-air, and the US can stream online. Read on to find out how everyone can watch, from all over the world – and for FREE – using these simple steps.
How to live stream Eurovision 2018 in the UK:
Good old aunty Beeb will be broadcasting the entire Eurovision Song Content Grand Final for free. That means you can watch via the BBC 1 on your TV from 8pm BST but it also means you can enjoy it online via the iPlayer with Graham Norton as your wise-cracking host.
Another great way to access the content from any device you need to use is by using TVPlayer.com or – if you’d sooner ditch the commentary – on Eurovision’s official YouTube channel. You can watch the Eurovision final from anywhere in the world using this and a VPN, here’s how.
Live stream Eurovision 2018 for free anywhere else in the world:
1. Download and install a VPN
If you don’t have easy access to watch the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 online in your country, the best way to watch it for free is to download and install a VPN. We’ve tested all of the major VPN services and we rate ExpressVPN as the absolute best. It’s compatible with all of your devices, supports most streaming services and ranks amongst the fastest. You can even install it on devices like an Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox and PlayStation. So for a one-stop shop, you can’t go wrong with Express – but there are more fantastic VPN options out there as well:
The best 3 VPNs for streaming sports online
1. ExpressVPN: the best all-round VPN for streaming, comes with 30-day trial
2. NordVPN: SmartPlay tech makes NordVPN a great choice for streaming
3. VyprVPN: blazing speeds make VyprVPN a great choice for 4K video
2. Connect to the appropriate server location
Simply open the VPN app, hit ‘choose location’ and select the appropriate location – it’s super easy to do. Choose UK if you want to stream its coverage of Eurovision.
3. Go to TVPlayer.com
This is a great service and, crucially, is a free and legal way to stream live all the Eurovision fun you can handle from Portugal. TVPlayer.com gives you access to tonnes more channels without even having to register your email address.
How to live stream Eurovision 2018 in Australia for free:
Since Australia’s SBS is airing the whole final it should be easy to enjoy it on the big screen. That also means you can get all the fun online using the SBS On Demand service that works on multiple devices – ideal if you’re on the go. Just remember to set your alarm if you want to watch all the singers live, as the show begins at 5am AEST.
Find out more in our full guide on live streaming Eurovision in Australia.
How to live stream Eurovision 2018 – US stream:
The Eurovision Grand Final will air at 3pm ET on May 12 broadcast by Logo. That means the show will simulcast both on Logo’s website as well as via the LogoTv mobile app. These may require a cable password so another option is to use the Logo YouTube channel here.
The LOGO broadcast will feature commentary from Michelle Visage of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and comedian Ross Mathews.
How to watch Eurovision 2018 in Canada for free:
In previous years the LGBT friendly broadcaster OUTv broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest but this year it will not. This is because the company says there may not be enough interest in Canada – even Deadpool has weighed in on this one.
So if you’re in Canada and you are indeed interested, scroll up to see how you can enjoy the contest using a VPN. It means you can watch everything for free from the comfort of your own home or elsewhere on a tablet or phone.
How to watch Eurovision 2018 in New Zealand this year:
New Zealand’s usual Eurovision broadcaster, UKTV, will not be airing the event this year. Fear not, you can still watch all the audio action online using a VPN. Check out how easy that is up the page with our handy guide.
Where else can I watch Eurovision 2018 using a VPN?
A VPN will enable you to watch Eurovision 2018 from literally anywhere. So that obviously includes: China, Russia, India, Thailand, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Finland, Israel, Canada, Germany, Denmark, India, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Romania, Mexico, France, Sweden, Italy, Czech Republic, Ireland, Poland, Kenya, Hungary, South Africa, Indonesia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Egypt and more!
Main image courtesy of eurovision.TV
http://www.techradar.com/news/how-to-live-stream-eurovision-2018-final-watch-free-online-song-contest