Georgia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 16 times since making its debut in 2007. The Georgian participant broadcaster in the contest is the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB). Georgia has reached the final on seven occasions, achieving two top ten placements, with "Shine" performed by Sofia Nizharadze (2010) and "One More Day" by Eldrine (2011) both finishing ninth.
Salomé Zourabichvili is a French-born Georgian politician, former diplomat and the fifth president of Georgia – the first female president in the country's history. As a result of the constitutional amendments that came into effect in 2024, Zourabichvili became the last popularly elected president; under the new constitutional rules, moving forward Georgian presidents are to be elected indirectly by a parliamentary college of electors.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, also known as Boris Grigoryevich Ivanishvili, is a French-Georgian politician and billionaire oligarch who made his wealth in Russia. He is widely recognized as the de facto ruler of Georgia. He has been sanctioned by the United States and several European Union countries for undermining Georgian democracy and advancing the interests of the Russian Federation.
Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia (GD), also colloquially known as the Kotsebi, is a populist political party in Georgia. It is currently the ruling party in Georgia. Irakli Garibashvili serves as the party chairman, while the former chairman Irakli Kobakhidze has served as the prime minister since February 2024. Bidzina Ivanishvili, widely considered the de facto leader of the party, serves as its honorary chairman. The party's electoral number is 41.
Nino Sulaberidze, better known by her stage name Nina Sublatti, is a Georgian singer, songwriter, and model.
New Political Centre – Girchi is a libertarian political party in Georgia. It was founded and registered in spring of 2016 by dissenting members of United National Movement. It included Zurab Japaridze, the chairman of the party from 2016 to 2018, as well as the de facto leader up until his departure in 2020, who went on to establish a new party with a similar name Girchi - More Freedom. Iago Khvichia has served as the party's chairman since 2018. The party received 2.9% of the vote in the 2020 Georgian parliamentary election, being granted 4 seats in the Georgian parliament as a parliamentary opposition, although it failed to receive any seats as a result of 2024 Georgian parliamentary election, despite marginally increasing its vote share to 3%, due to the increased electoral threshold.
Budu Zivzivadze is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Bundesliga club Heidenheim and the Georgia national team.
Lelo for Georgia is a liberal political party in Georgia. It was established in 2019 by two businessmen Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze. Soon after its founding, it attracted a number of prominent political figures and political parties with Development Movement and the New Rights Party merging to form a single political entity.
Gakharia For Georgia is a political party in Georgia founded by former Georgian Prime Minister from the Georgian Dream party Giorgi Gakharia. It is currently in opposition with it having 11 MPs in the Georgian parliament.
Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia on 26 October 2024. The elections were held under the rules passed in 2017 through the constitutional amendments which shifted the electoral system towards a fully proportional representation with a 5% electoral threshold. The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party sought to win its fourth term in office. Its founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili—an influential oligarch and former prime minister often regarded as the country's éminence grise following his official departure from politics in 2021—returned to politics several months before the polls to lead GD in the elections.
Kakhaber "Kakha" Okriashvili is a Georgian doctor, businessman, and politician, founder of the PSP pharmacy network and a member of Parliament since 2004.
Ketevan Arbolishvili is a former Georgian rhythmic gymnast. She represented her country at international competitions. She announced her retirement via an Instagram post on 15 April 2024.
Georgia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 with the song "Firefighter", written by Ada Satka and Darko Dimitrov, and performed by Nutsa Buzaladze. The Georgian participating broadcaster, the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB), internally selected its entry for the contest.
"Firefighter" is a song by Georgian singer Nutsa Buzaladze, released on 11 March 2024 by Stop Talking. It was written by Ada Satka and Darko Dimitrov, and represented Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, where it placed 21st in the grand final with 34 points. In the process, the song became the first Georgian entry to qualify for the grand final since 2016.
The "Global War Party" is a conspiracy theory created and advanced by Georgian Dream, a Georgian political party. It is an alleged international organization exerting a key influence on the European Union and the United States. According to some commentators connected to the party, the "Global War Party" includes the American military-industrial complex, George Soros and neoconservatives. Georgian Dream has accused it of prolonging the Russo-Ukrainian war and spreading it to other countries, assassinating sovereignist leaders, orchestrating revolutions around the world, and plotting to topple Georgian Dream from power.
Dimitri Samkharadze is a Georgian politician and a member of the Georgian Dream party who has served as a member of the Georgian parliament since 2016, Regional Secretary of Georgian Dream since 2020, and as Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary Majority from December 2019 to December 2020.
Georgian Dream was a catch-all political alliance in Georgia formed around Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia party in opposition to the then-ruling United National Movement (UNM) party. The coalition was formed in 2012 with it winning the parliamentary election held in the same year. The alliance was dissolved in 2016 after which GD – DG went on to win 2016 and 2020 parliamentary elections independently.
The first season of the Georgian television mystery music game show Gvachvene sheni khma premiered on Rustavi 2 on 12 September 2023, following a pilot episode that aired on 9 May 2023.
Presidential elections were held in Georgia on 14 December 2024. Following amendments to the constitution and Georgia's transition to the parliamentary republic in 2017, which led to the drastic reduction to the presidential powers, this was the first indirect vote where the president was elected through a 300-member College of Electors composed of the parliamentary, local and regional representatives. Ruling party nominated candidate Mikheil Kavelashvili was elected by 224 electoral votes.
Georgia is currently undergoing a constitutional crisis due to the disputed legitimacy of the October 2024 Georgian parliamentary election, which was conducted with significant irregularities and described by observers as "fundamentally flawed". The crisis continued with the unconstitutional self-convening of Parliament and escalated with the decision of the ruling party to suspend preparations for EU accession negotiations, which was seen as contradicting Article 78 of the Georgian Constitution. The crisis entered another phase with the election of a new president by the disputed Parliament and its 29 December 2024 inauguration of Mikheil Kavelashvili. Salome Zourabichvili stated on 29 December and during the following weeks that she remained the president of Georgia.
