An annual contest organized by television companies throughout Europe (and Israel) to choose a winning pop song from among those entered by the participating countries. The first was held at Lugano, Switzerland, in 1956; since then it has been customary for the winning country to host the following year's contest.
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held between active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), in which participating countries each submit a song to be performed on live television; Each country participates via one of their national EBU-member television stations, whose task it is to select a singer and a song to go forward to represent the country in the international competition.
The Contest has been broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1956, and is one of the longest-running television programmes in the world. It has been broadcast around the globe — beyond Europe — to such countries as Australia, Canada, Egypt, Jordan, Hong Kong, India, Korea, New Zealand and the USA; even though these countries do not participate.
The Contest is historically known for being mainly a bastion of formulaic, orchestrated pop music.
Over the years, the Song Contest has grown from a mere televisual experiment into an international institution of mammoth proportions. Most countries in Europe have taken part at least once during the Contest's history, and the word "Eurovision" is a household name which is recognised across an entire continent.
Origins
In the 1950s, when a war-torn Europe was still rebuilding itself, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) — based in Switzerland — came up with the idea of an international song contest whereby countries would participate in one television programme, to be transmitted simultaneously to all countries of the union. The competition was based upon the existing Sanremo Music Festival held in Italy, and was also seen as a technological experiment in live television: in those days, it was a very ambitious project to join many countries together in a wide-area international network.
The first Contest was held in the town of Lugano, Switzerland, on 24 May 1956. Seven countries participated – each submitting two songs, for a total of 14. This was the only Contest in which more than one song per country was performed: since 1957 all Contests have allowed one entry per country.
The programme was first known as the "Eurovision Grand Prix". This "Grand Prix" name was adopted by the Francophone countries as well as Denmark and Norway, where the Contest became known as "Le Grand-Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne".
Format
The format of the Contest has changed over the years; however the basic tenets have always been thus: participant countries submit songs, which are performed live in a television programme transmitted across the Eurovision Network by the EBU simultaneously to all countries. A "country" as a participant is represented by one television broadcaster from that country. The programme is hosted by one of the participant countries, and the transmission is sent from the auditorium in the host city. During this programme, after all the songs have been performed, the countries then proceed to cast votes for the other countries' songs: nations are not allowed to vote for their own song. The winner receives, simply, the prestige of having won – although it is usual for a trophy to be awarded to the winning songwriters, and the winning country is invited to host the event the following year.
The programme is invariably opened by one or more presenters, welcoming viewers to the show. Most host countries choose to capitalise on the opportunity afforded them by hosting a programme with such a wide-ranging international audience, and it is common to see the presentation interspersed with video footage of scenes from the host nation, as if advertising for tourism.
The theme music played before and after the broadcasts of the Eurovision Song Contest (and other Eurovision broadcasts) is the prelude to Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Te Deum.
The Eurovision Song Contest final is traditionally held on a Spring Saturday evening, at 19:00 UTC (20:00 BST, or 21:00 CEST). Since 2004, due to the increasing number of eligible countries which have wished to participate, a qualifying round — known as the Semi Final — has been held on the Wednesday or Thursday before the final.
Participation
Eligible participants include Active Members (as opposed to Associate Members) of the European Broadcasting Union.
The European Broadcasting Area is defined by the International Telecommunication Union:
The western boundary of "Region 1" is a line drawn west of Iceland down the centre of the Atlantic Ocean.
Active members include broadcasting organisations whose transmissions are made available to (virtually) all of the population of the country in which they are based.
If an EBU Active Member wishes to participate, they must fulfil conditions as laid down by the rules of the Contest (of which a separate copy is drafted annually). As of 2006, this includes the necessity to have broadcast the previous year's programme within their country, and paid the EBU a participation fee in advance of the deadline specified in the rules of the Contest for the year in which they wish to participate.
It should be noted that eligibility to participate is not determined by geographic inclusion within the continent of Europe, despite the "Euro" in "Eurovision" – nor has it anything to do with the European Union. In 1980, Morocco — a North African country — participated in the Contest.
Forty-five countries have participated at least once. These are listed here alongside the year in which they made their debut:
1956 – Belgium, France, Germany †, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland 1957 – Austria, Denmark, United Kingdom 1958 – Sweden 1959 – Monaco 1960 – Norway 1961 – Finland, Spain, Yugoslavia ‡ 1964 – Portugal 1965 – Ireland 1971 – Malta 1973 – Israel 1974 – Greece 1975 – Turkey 1980 – Morocco 1981 – Cyprus 1986 – Iceland 1993 – Bosnia &Selection procedures
Each country must submit one song to represent them in any given year they participate. The only exception to this was when each country submitted two songs in the inaugural Contest. The purpose of this rule is to ensure that only new songs are entered into the Contest, and not existing successful songs of years gone by, which might give a country an unfair advantage due to the fact that the song is already known and popular.
Countries may select their songs by any means they wish: whether it be an internal decision made by the participating broadcaster, or a public contest which allows the country's public to televote between several songs.
Some countries' national finals are as big — if not bigger — than the international Eurovision Song Contest itself, involving many songs being submitted to national public semi-finals. The Swedish national final, Melodifestivalen (literally, "The Melody Festival") includes 32 songs being performed over four semi-finals, played to huge audiences in arenas around the country, before the final show in Stockholm. the winner of which proceeded to represent the country at Eurovision.
Whichever method is used to select the entry, the song's details must be finalised and submitted to the EBU before a deadline some weeks before the international Contest.
Hosting
Most of the expense of the Contest is covered by event sponsors and contributions from the other participating nations. The Contest is considered a unique showcase for promoting the host country as a tourist destination.
Preparations to host the Contest start a matter of weeks after a country wins, and confirms to the EBU that they intend to — and have the capacity to — host the event.
It is always a consideration, when choosing a host city and venue, what hotel and press facilities there are in the vicinity.
Eurovision Week
The term "Eurovision Week" is used to refer to the week during which the Contest takes place. In addition to rehearsals in their home countries, every participant is given the opportunity to rehearse on the stage in the Eurovision auditorium.
Each participating broadcaster nominates a Head of Delegation, whose job it is to coordinate the movements of the delegate members, and who acts as that country's representative to the EBU in the host city. Also present if desired is a commentator: each broadcaster may supply their own commentary for their TV and/or radio feed, to be broadcast in each country.
Rehearsals and Press Conferences
Traditionally, delegations would arrive on the Sunday before the Contest, in order to be present for rehearsals starting on the Monday morning. However, with the introduction of the semi-final — and therefore the resulting increase in the number of countries taking part — since 2004 the first rehearsals have commenced during the week before Eurovision Week. The countries taking part in the semi-final currently rehearse over four days from the first Thursday to the Sunday, with two rehearsal periods allowed for each country. The countries which have already directly qualified for the grand final rehearse on the Monday and Tuesday of Eurovision Week.
After each country has rehearsed, the delegation meets with the show's artistic director in the video viewing room. so one country holds its press conference, while the next one is in the auditorium rehearsing.
The Wednesday of Eurovision Week holds two full dress rehearsals of the semi-final;
Parties and Euroclub
On the Monday evening of Eurovision Week, a Mayor's Reception is traditionally held, where the city administration hosts a celebration that Eurovision has come to their city.
After the semi-final and grand final there are after-show parties, held either in a facility in the venue complex or in another suitable location within the city.
During the week many delegations have traditionally hosted their own parties in addition to the officially-sponsored ones.
Voting
The voting systems used in the Contest have changed throughout the years. Countries award a set of points from 1 to 8, then 10 and finally 12 to other songs in the competition – with the favourite song being awarded 12 points.
Historically, a country's set of votes was decided by an internal jury, but in 1997 five countries (Austria, France, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom) experimented with televoting, giving members of the public in those countries the opportunity to vote en-masse for their favourite songs. Whichever method of voting is used — jury, telephone or SMS — it is not possible to vote for the same country from which the vote is cast; countries may not cast votes for their own songs.
Presentation of votes
After the interval act is over, when all the points have been calculated, the presenter(s) of the show call upon each voting country in turn to invite them to announce the results of their vote. With the advent of more reliable satellite networks, from 1994 onwards voting spokespeople have appeared on camera from their respective countries to read out the votes. Often the opportunity is taken by each country to show their spokesperson standing in front of a backdrop which includes a famous place in that country. Spokespeople may also give a short message to the hosts and organisers thanking them for the show before giving out their country's points, which has become somewhat of a tradition over the years.
Votes are read out in ascending order, culminating with the maximum 12 points.
From 1957 to 2003, countries were called in the same order in which the songs had been presented. Since 2004, the order of the countries' announcements of votes has changed – due to the presence of the semi-final, and the fact that non-participating countries could also vote. In 2004, the countries were called in alphabetical order (according to their ISO codes). In 2006, a separate draw was held to determine the order in which countries would present their votes.
From 1971 to 1973, each country sent two jurors, who were actually present at the Contest venue and announced their votes as the camera was trained on them.
In 1956 no public votes were presented: a closed jury simply announced that Switzerland had won.
In 2006 the EBU decided to conserve time during the broadcast — much of which had been taken up with the announcement of every single point — because there was an ever-increasing number of countries voting.
The voting is presided over by the EBU scrutineer, who is responsible for ensuring that all points are allocated correctly and in turn. The scrutineer is notified in advance of the results of the last five countries in the running-order of voting, to ensure that no foul play can take place in the form of tactical voting; where for example a country could change its votes after seeing how the trend has gone before them on the scoreboard.
Ties for first place
In 1969, a tie-break system had not yet been conceived, and four countries all tied for first place based on their total numbers of points: France, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Since there was no predetermined set of rules to decide the winner, all four countries were declared as winners.
In the event of a tie for first place at the end of the evening, a count is made of the total number of countries who awarded any points at all to each of the tied countries; and the one who received points from the most other countries is declared the winner. If the numbers are still tied, it is counted how many sets of maximum marks ("12 points") each country received. In the extremely unlikely event of there then still being a tie for first place, the tied countries are jointly declared as the winners.
As of 2006, the only time since 1969 when two or more countries have tied for first place on total points alone was in 1991, when France and Sweden both totalled 146 points. In 1991 the tie-break rules did not include counting the numbers of countries awarding any points at all to these countries, but went straight to tallying up the numbers of 12 points awarded.
Rules
There are a number of rules which must be observed by the participating nations.
Hosting rules
In 1958 it was decided that from then on, the winning country would host the Contest the next year. In all but five of the years since this rule has been in place, the winning country has hosted the show the following year. The BBC was becoming known as the host by default, if the winning country declined.
The declinations due to expense were due to those broadcasters' already having hosted the Contest during the past couple of years.
Since 1981, all Contests have been held in the country which won the previous year.
Live music rules
All vocals must be sung live: no voices are permitted on backing tracks.
From 1956 until 1998, it was necessary for the host country to provide a live orchestra for the use of the participants. From 1973 onwards, pre-recorded backing tracks were permitted – although the host country was still obliged to provide a live orchestra in order to give participants a choice.
In 1999 the rules were amended to abolish the requirement by the host broadcaster to provide a live orchestra;
Language rules
The rule requiring countries to sing in their own national language has been changed several times over the years. However, in 1966 a rule was imposed stating that the songs must be performed in one of the official languages of the country participating. Several winners in the mid-1970s took advantage of the newly-found freedom, with performers from non-native-English-speaking countries singing in English, including ABBA in 1974.
Broadcasting rules
Each participating broadcaster is required to broadcast the show in its entirety: including all songs, voting and reprise, skipping only the interval act for advertising breaks if they wish.
Political recognition issues
In 1978 when it became apparent during the later stages of the voting sequence that Israel was going to win the Contest, Jordanian television cut the broadcast and showed pictures of flowers.
Other notable rules
In the first Contest in 1956, there was no time limit on songs.Expansion of the Contest
The number of countries participating each year has steadily grown over the course of the years, from seven participants in 1956 to over 20 in the late 1980s. In 1993 there were 25 countries participating in the competition, including — for the first time that year — Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia, entering independently due to the break-up of the former Yugoslavia.
Due to the fact that the Contest is a live television programme, a reasonable time limit must be imposed on the duration of the show.
Pre-selections and Relegation
Since 1993, there have been more countries wishing to enter the Contest than there is time to reasonably include all their entries in a single TV show. Several relegation or qualification systems have, therefore, been tried in order to limit the number of countries participating in the competition in any given year. The 1993 Contest introduced two new features: firstly, a pre-selection competition was held in Ljubljana in which seven new countries fought for three places in the international competition. The six lowest-placed countries in the 1993 score table were forced to skip the next year, in order to allow the countries which failed the 1993 pre-selection into the 1994 Contest. but in 1996 a different pre-selection system was used, in which nearly all the countries participated. Audio tapes of all the songs were sent to juries in each of the countries some weeks before the television show. Norway, as the host country in 1996 (having won the 1995 Contest), automatically qualified and was therefore excluded from the necessity of going through the pre-selection.
One country which failed to qualify in the 1996 pre-selection was Germany.
The "Big Four"
Prompted by Germany's failure to qualify for the 1996 final, a new rule was made: From 2000 onwards, four particular countries would always qualify for the Eurovision final, regardless of their positions on the scoreboard in previous Contests. These countries are France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. Due to their "untouchable" status in the Contest, these countries became known as the "Big Four".
Qualification
From 1997 to 2001, countries qualified for each Contest based on the average of their points totals for their entries over the previous five years. However, there was much discontent voiced over this system because a country could be punished by not being allowed to enter merely because of poor previous results, which did not take into account how good a fresh attempt might be. In these two shows there would be enough broadcast time to include all the countries which wished to participate, every year.
Semi-Final
A qualification round, known as the semi-final, was introduced for the 2004 Contest.
The semi-final includes those countries whose ranking on the scoreboard the previous year was not high enough to ensure direct qualification for the final. As of 2006, it is necessary for a country to attain a place within the top ten of the final scoreboard to be assured of direct qualification for next year's grand final.
Since the introduction of the semi-final, it has been possible for countries to vote even though they are not participating in the programme: for example it is possible for the United Kingdom to vote for countries in the semi-final even though they do not participate themselves; and a country in the semi-final, which fails to qualify for the final, may still vote for the other countries in the final on Saturday.
After the votes have been cast in the semi-final, the countries which received the most votes — and will therefore proceed to the final on Saturday — are announced in no particular order.
The ten most highly-placed countries in the final are guaranteed a place in next year's final, without the need to participate in next year's semi. so that if, for example, Germany comes in the top ten, the 11
Winners
Winning the Eurovision Song Contest provides a unique opportunity for the winning artist(s) to capitalise on their success and surrounding publicity by launching or furthering their international career.
Winning artists
The most notable winning Eurovision artists whose career was directly launched into the spotlight following their win were ABBA, who won the Contest for Sweden in 1974 with their song Waterloo.
Another notable winner who subsequently achieved international fame and success was Céline Dion, who won the Contest for Switzerland in 1988 with the song Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi.
Other artists who have achieved varying degrees of success after winning the Contest include France Gall (Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son, Luxembourg 1965), Lulu (Boom Bang-a-Bang, United Kingdom 1969), Vicky Leandros (Après Toi, Luxembourg 1972), Brotherhood Of Man (Save Your Kisses For Me, United Kingdom 1976), Johnny Logan (who won twice for Ireland;
Winning countries
Ireland holds the record for the most number of wins, having won the Contest seven times – including three times in a row in the mid 1990s.
The early years of the Contest saw many wins for "traditional" Eurovision countries: France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
The first years of the 21st century produced a spate of first-time winners, from both "new" Eurovision countries, and old-timers who had entered for many years without a win. Every year from 2001 to 2006 inclusive resulted in a country winning for the first time.
As of 2006, the country which has entered the longest with no wins to their name is Portugal.
Criticisms
The Contest has been the subject of much criticism over the years;
Musical style and presentation
Due to the fact that the songs are playing to such a diverse international audience with diverse musical tastes, and that countries want to be able to appeal to as many people as possible to gain votes, the majority of the songs historically have been middle-of-the-road pop.
Political voting
The Contest has long been perceived as a political institution, where judges, and now televoters, allocate points based on their nation's political relationship to the other countries, rather than on their opinions of the songs. An analysis of voting patterns does indeed show that certain countries tend to favour certain other countries with which they are politically aligned. Defenders of the Contest argue that the reason certain countries allocate disproportionately high points to others is because the people of those countries share similar musical taste and culture, speak similar languages, and are therefore more likely to appreciate each other's music: for example the explanation for Greece and Cyprus' frequent exchange of 12 points is because those countries share the same music industry and language, and artists who are popular in one country are popular in the other.
Spin-offs
A number of spin-offs and imitators of the Eurovision Song Contest have been produced over the years:
Junior Eurovision Song Contest – held annually since 2003, for artists under the age of 16. Intervision Song Contest – held by the Eastern bloc countries between 1977 and 1980.In Autumn 2005, the EBU organised a special programme to celebrate the 50
Official websites
Eurovision.tv - the official website of the Eurovision Song Contest ebu.ch - the official website of the European Broadcasting Union The Official Eurovision Shop - Selection of Eurovision itemsFan sites
The Diggiloo Thrush (Song lyrics) Doteurovision (General news site) ESCToday.com (General news site) ESC Radio (Online radio station, featuring Eurovision hits) eurosong.net (Chatroom, message board, fan voting & lyrics) National Finals Homepage (National finals) Oikotimes (General news site) OGAE Network (Eurovison Fan Club)
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