Eurovision tickets go live: did anyone get one?

Tickets for the much-anticipated Eurovision Song Contest went live today at 1pm, however tickets were only available internationally via Ticketmaster.

Tickets ranged from £30 to £290 for the semi-finals, and £80 to £380 for the grand final shows.

Ticketmaster only allowed customers to purchase one show at a time which made it impossible to see multiple due to the waiting queues.

It got worse for people in a five person friend group with the ticket allowance being four tickets in one order for the three live televised shows.

For the six preview shows, customers could purchase a maximum of six tickets per order.

However, disappointment arose with some customers struggling with the site, being greeted with a “internal server error” moments before tickets went live alongside ridiculous waiting queues. 

Numerous outraged fans took to Twitter to unleash their frustration.

Even though I know nothing about music composition, I’ve realised it’d be easier to write a song, get selected for the national final, win that, then win through the semi-final to get into the Grand Final, then buy tickets via Ticketmaster #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/M0TkLMuxHO

— Robert Lanigan (@robertlanigan) March 7, 2023

Thats 1 hour 45 mins of my life I'll never get back. Thanks for nothing @Ticketmaster#Eurovision pic.twitter.com/iKafxjEd3u

— Emma T 💙💛 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈Ally (@FrecklesFieldo) March 7, 2023

Olympian Sam Quek has been announced as one of the BBC presentation team for Eurovision and even being in the position she is in she struggled with getting tickets in which she too took to Twitter to poke a light-hearted complaint.

If it makes anyone feel better… I couldn’t get #Eurovision Grand Final tickets…

…and I’m presenting the Opening Ceremony! #Ticketmaster pic.twitter.com/2m53xPzyWk

— Sam Quek (@SamanthaQuek) March 7, 2023

Resale tickets for the live grand final equate to around 22 times more expensive than the original price ticket in the higher margin of £380, costing a whopping £8,260 minimum per ticket on Viagogo.

We didn't get Eurovision tickets 😭

I wouldn't mind if there weren't already people reselling, and touts reselling for thousands of pounds. You're all shameless. The sooner resale is banned the better.

— Erin Lister (Sharrocks) (@ErinLLister) March 7, 2023

Last year in Turin, the Ukrainian contestant Kalashnikov Orchestra was victorious over Sam Ryder.

However, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine this year’s contest could not take place in Ukraine which enabled the second place slot, the UK, the opportunity to host.

The first live semi-final is set to take place on 9 May, the second live semi-final on 11 May and the live grand final on 13 May.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Ticketmaster said: “The Ticketmaster site did not crash – rather a very small number of fans experienced issues accessing the queue.

“Ticket sales were unaffected, and thousands of fans secured their seats for the Eurovision Song Contest, which is now sold out.”

Featured image credit: Baku Crystal Hall via CC BY-SA 3.0