Festivali Evropian i Këngës 2006

**Festivali Evropian i Këngës 2006** ishte festivali i 51 me radhë, i mbajtur në Olympic Indoor Hall në Athinë, Greqi më 18 maj (gjysëm-finalja) dhe 20 maj 2006 (finalja). Transmetuesi Kombëtar i Festivalit ishte Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi (ERT). Banda Finlandeze Lordi fitoi me 292 pikë festivalin me këngën "Hard Rock Hallelujah", e shkruar nga vokalisti Mr. Lordi. (Megjithatë ky rekord u thye me fitoren e Norvegjisë me 387 pikë në Festivali Evropian i Këngës 2009). "Hard Rock Hallelujah" ishte kënga e parë hard rock që fitoi festivalin, meqënëse Festivali Evropian është normalisht i shoqëruar me Muzikë Pop. Kjo ishte fitorja e parë e Finlandës e cila nuk kishte fituar që 45 vjet.
Prezantuesit e Festivalit Evropian në Athinë ishin këngëtari grek Sakis Rouvas, përfaqësues i Greqisë në Festivali Evropian i Këngës 2004 dhe 2009, dhe aktorja dhe prezantuesja Greko-Amerikane, Maria Menounos.. Elena Paparizou, e cila performoi këngën fituese në Kiev, u rikthye të performonte në Athinë. Ajo këndoi dy herë në finale, "My Number One" në hapje dhe këngën e saj më të fundit "Mambo!" në një interval. Një CD dhe DVD zyrtar u realizua dhe gjithashtu një libër i fansave.

## Formati 
### Dizanji 
Logoja Zyrtare e festivalit mbeti e njëjta që nga 2004 dhe 2005 vetëm flamuri i vendit në zemër ndryshoi. Following Istanbul's "Në të njëjtin qiell" dhe Kiev's "Awakening", slogani për Festivalin e 2006 ishte "Ndjeje Ritmin".

### Votimi 
Për të ruajtur kohën në finale, koha e votimit zgjati 10 minuta dhe procesi i votimit u ndryshua: pikët nga 1-7 u shfaqën automatikisht në ekran. The spokespersons only announced the countries scoring 8, 10 and 12 points.  Ky lloj votimi u kritikua sepse. And for the first time, the display for the Macedonian entry had the title spelled out in its entirety (as "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia") instead of being abbreviated as it has been in previous years (as "FYR Macedonia").

## Vendet Pjesëmarrëse 
Vendet Pjesëmarrëse në Festivalin Evropian duhet të jenë anëtarë të EBU active members.

### Gjysmëfinalja 
Gjysmëfinalja u mbajt më 18 maj 2006 në orën 21:00 (CET). 23 shtete performuan dhe të gjithë shtetet pjesëmarrëse votuan dhe Serbia dhe Mali i Zi.

*Vendet me ngjyrë të verdhë u kualifikuan për në finale*

### Finalja 
Finalistët ishin:
*Katër vendet e kualifikuara automatikisht Franca, Gjermania, Spanja dhe Britania e Madhe;
*10 vendet e para nga finalja e 2005 (të tjera nga të kualifikuarit automatikisht);
*10 vendet e para nga gjysëm finalja e 2006.

Finalja u mbajt më 20 maj 2006 në orën 21:00 (CET) dhe fitoi Finlanda.

*Vendet në bold u kualifikuan automatikisht për finalen e Festivali Evropian i Këngës 2007.*

#### Votimi gjatë Finales 
Vendet i dhanë votat në këtë rend:

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### Tërheqje 
* On 18 June 2005, Austrian newspaper *Kurier* reported that the Austrian broadcaster ORF would not be taking part in the 2006 contest.
* On 5 October 2005 the managing director of Georgia Television & Radio Broadcasting stated that Georgia would not enter the 2006 contest.
* On 6 October 2005 Česká televize announced that the Czech Republic would not participate.
* On 9 December 2005 Hungarian broadcaster Magyar TV announced that Hungary would not participate for financial reasons.
* Italy did not take part in the Contest between 1997 and 2011.
* Serbia and Montenegro withdrew from the contest due to a scandal in the selection process, which has caused tensions between the Serbian broadcaster, RTS, and the Montenegran broadcaster, RTCG. Serbia and Montenegro did retain voting rights for the contest. Serbia and Montenegro's withdrawal left a vacancy in the final. In the delegations meeting on 20 March, it was decided that Croatia, who finished 11th in the 2005 Contest, would fill the empty spot.

## Ratings 
After the Contest, EBU officials that the overall ratings for the Semi-Final were 35% higher than in 2005, and for the Final had risen by 28%.

In France, average market shares reached 30.3%, up by 8% over the 2005 figure. Other countries that showed a rise in average market shares included Germany with 38% (up from 29%), United Kingdom with 37.5% (up from 36%), Spain with 36% (up from 35%), Ireland with 58% (up from 35%) and Sweden, which reached over 80% compared to 57% the year previously.

Voting revenues had also risen from the Kiev Contest, and the official Eurovision website, www.eurovision.tv, reported visits from over 200 countries and over 98 million page views, compared with 85 million in 2005.

## Noteworthy occurrences and records 
[thumb|[Lordi performing Hard Rock Hallelujah at the opening of ESC 2007]]
*From the Final*
*Finland had to wait forty-four years since their debut in 1961 to achieve their first victory. The Finns have been waiting since 1977 for their fourth set of 12 points; this year they finally achieved one again - in fact, they received eight.
*Bosnia & Herzegovina reached third place, its highest position ever. The seventh place reached in 1999 was its most successful entry.
*Sweden's Carola obtained 170 points without getting any 12-pointers and reached 5th place.
*Though Turkey was the fourth country with the most 12s (received from France, Germany and Netherlands), the entry by Sibel Tüzün only reached 11th place with 91 points.
*Lithuania waited 12 years to receive their first 12 points. This was finally realised by points from Ireland.
*Runner-up Russia and 4th placed Romania were voted for by 35 countries, more than winner Finland, who received votes from 34 countries.
*The United Kingdom placed 19th, receiving points from 10 countries, while Macedonia (12th), Croatia (13th) and Denmark (18th) were voted for by 9, 8 and only 5 countries respectively.
*It is noticed that Turkey received 91 points both in the semi final and the final.
*So, Finland received 292 points both in the semi final and the final.
*As of the conclusion of the 2008 contest, Greece holds the record for the most successful run in the Eurovision Song Contest since its shake-up in 2004. It is the only country that has not yet been relegated to the semi-final (excluding the Big Four), after having attained places in the top 10 since then (third in 2004, first in 2005, ninth in 2006). This record has been maintained beyond Athens, reaching seventh in Helsinki 2007, third in Belgrade 2008, seventh in Moscow 2009, eighth in Oslo 2010 and seventh again in Düsseldorf 2011. Turkey is followed after, in 2003 they won with Sertab Erener singing Everyway that I can. In 2004 (4th), In 2007 (4th), In 2008 (7th), In 2009 (4th) and In 2010 (2nd), unfortunately, their break ended when they couldn't participate for the Grand Final in 2011.
*Despite having withdrawn from the 2006 contest, Serbia and Montenegro retained their voting rights.  During the announcement of their votes, spokesperson Jovana Janković said "So, as you know, we don't have a song for you this year, but we promise that next year we will give you the best one". Her promise was fulfilled when Marija Šerifović of Serbia won the contest the following year. Janković would also host the 2008 Contest.
*Alexis Kostalas, the long-time Greek spokesman, jokingly described Finland's Lordi "beautiful, gorgeous, sweet-looking creatures" before giving them the maximum twelve points, which eventually cemented their victory.
*The Norwegian entry "Alvedansen" performed by singer, songwriter Christine Guldbrandsen, is the first and until now, the latest entry performed in Norwegian Language since the end of the language-rule in 1999.

## Returning artists 
## Broadcasting 
### International broadcasts 
; **Australia** : Although Australia is not itself eligible to enter, the semi-final and final were broadcast on SBS. As is the case each year, they were not however broadcast live due to the difference in Australian time zones. Australia aired the United Kingdom's broadcast, including commentary from Paddy O'Connell and Terry Wogan. Before the broadcasts, viewers were told by an SBS host that the Eurovision Song Contest was one of their most popular programmes. The final rated an estimated 462,000, and was ranked 21st of the broadcasters top rating programs for the 2005/06 financial year. https://web.archive.org/web/20070607055325/http://www20.sbs.com.au/sbscorporate/media/documents/842201_tv_and_online.pdf
;  **Azerbaijan** : Azerbaijan were willing to enter the contest but since AzTV applied for active EBU membership but was denied on June 18, 2007, they missed the contest and have to wait until they're accepted. Another Azerbaijan broadcaster, OTV, broadcast the contest. It is a passive EBU member, and has broadcast it for the last 2 years. It was the only non-participating broadcaster this year to send its own commentators to the contest.http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/8730 
;  **Italy**: Italian television did not enter because RAI, the national broadcaster, is in strong competition with commercial TV stations and they believe that the Eurovision Song Contest would not be a popular show in Italy. They have not broadcast the contest in recent years, although an independent Italian channel for the gay community has shown the show.
;  Worldwide : A live broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast worldwide by satellite through Eurovision streams such as Channel One Russia, ERT World, TVE Internacional, TVP Polonia, RTP Internacional and TVR i. The official Eurovision Song Contest website also provided a live stream without commentary using the peer-to-peer transport Octoshape.
; Possible broadcasts : Japan, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands Antilles, Suriname and Vietnam may have broadcast as well, as they have also broadcast the contest in the past. While Liechtenstein had no television broadcaster of its own until 1FLTV began broadcasting in 2008, Liechtensteiners could watch the contest on Swiss, Austrian or German television.
;  **Gibraltar**: Gibraltar screened only the final.

## References 
* Eurovision Record Book

## External links 
* Official Eurovision Website – Audio and video clips available in the **Multimedia Lounge**