Eurovision to air live in the U.S. for the first time
The Eurovision Song Contest is finally coming to the U.S. -- sort of.
Though the wildly popular, campy musical contest won't have any American participants, it will air live in the U.S. for the first time.
The European Broadcasting Union announced that the contest will air live on Viacom's Logo, says the Hollywood Reporter.
The cable channel, which is available in nearly 50 million homes, will host the 61st annual competition's grand finale on May 14 at 3 p.m. ET. The show will also be available to stream on LogoTV.com and Logo's app.
The contest will take place in Stockholm; last year, Mans Zelmerlow of Sweden won the competition with the song "Heroes."
"We are thrilled that the world's biggest entertainment show is being broadcast live in one of the biggest TV markets for the very first time," said Eurovision Song Contest executive supervisor Jon Ola Sand. "The Eurovision Song Contest is now a truly global phenomenon, and we are extremely happy that U.S viewers now get to join those all over Europe, Australia and Asia in experiencing the grand final of the world's longest running annual TV music competition."
Eurovision had nearly 200 million viewers last year. This year's contest will be centered on the theme "Come Together."