The China Mail - Eurovision 2025 first tickets wave sells out in minutes

The Swiss city of Basel will host the glitzy annual television extravaganza at the St. Jakobshalle indoor arena, with the semi-finals on May 13 and 15, and the final on May 17.

The first wave of tickets for the live shows sold out within seven minutes, while those for the preview shows sold out in 20 minutes, host broadcaster SRG said.

Fans who pre-registered for tickets but missed out on Wednesday will have further chances to be in the arena in future sales waves.

Tickets for the various shows range from 40 to 350 Swiss francs ($44-$385).

"We were overwhelmed by the huge demand," ESC 2025 co-executive producers Reto Peritz and Moritz Stadler said in a statement.

"It is moving to see how much the Eurovision Song Contest inspires people in our country and all over the world."

Swiss singer Nemo's 2024 Eurovision victory in Malmo, Sweden gave Switzerland the right to host this year's edition.

Israel's participation in last year's event, in the midst of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, attracted pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Israeli competitor Eden Golan had to change her lyrics over their apparent references to the deadly Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

A survivor of that attack will represent Israel in Basel.

When Hamas militants killed over 370 people at the Nova music festival, Yuval Raphael survived by hiding under a pile of bodies. She said she would be ready to face the kind of hostility Golan did.

- 'Pumping beats' and yodelling -

Around 36,000 fans without golden tickets for the arena will be able to flock to the St. Jakob-Park football stadium across the street to watch the final on giant screens.

Ticket sales for the stadium event open on Thursday at 0900 GMT, with tickets costing 55 to 128 Swiss francs ($60-$140).

The arena stage design is inspired by Switzerland's mountains and linguistic diversity, while the signature music for the show combines yodelling, a Basel drum corps, dulcimers and alphorns.

"We've created a bold, high-energy track, which will prepare the audience for an unforgettable experience with its pumping beats and surprising musical effects," said art director Artur Deyneuve.

Moldova pulled out ahead of Tuesday's semi-final draw for financial reasons and the lack of a strong enough entrant.

Fifteen countries were drawn in the first semi-final and 16 in the second. The top 10 go through from each semi to join hosts Switzerland and the so-called Big Five (Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) broadcasters in the final.

X.Gu--ThChM