Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is a song contest run by the European Broadcasting Union. It started in 1956. Different singers representing countries in Europe compete every year. Australia has also participated since 2015.
Past famous winners include ABBA (1974), Celine Dion (1988), Lordi (2006), Loreen (2012 and 2023), Duncan Laurence (2019) and Maneskin (2021).
The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first time the contest was cancelled. It was replaced by a replacement show called Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light. It showed the selected entries in place of the Grand Final on 16 May 2020.
Format
In the first few years of the contest, a small group of countries competed against each other in one show. As more countries wanted to join, it was decided that there would be two semi-finals, where the ten highest-ranked countries from each semi-final would go into the final. The United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany and Italy automatically qualify for the final because they give a lot of money to the EBU.
Until 2004, the winner was decided by experts from each country, called a jury. There were multiple jurors per country and each one would award points to their favourite song. After 2004, the winner was decided by a public vote. Since 2009, the jury and public vote have decided a winner. Both the juries and the public from each country award points to their ten favourite songs. The results are added together and the winner is revealed. The winning country hosts the contest next year, unless they are unable to.
Hosting
According to the Eurovision rules, the winner of each contest will host the next year's contest. This rule has been applied most of the time, with a notable exception being the 2023 contest, which was hosted in the United Kingdom because the previous year's winner, Ukraine, was unable to host.
Each year, the contest is hosted by a number of presenters. Usually, these are celebrities from the hosting country or can also be past winners and contestants.
The presenters will usually speak in English or the language of the host country. In addition to the presenters, each participating country has a "commentator" who narrates the event for the viewers in their language.
List of winners
The first Contest was won by Swiss singer Lys Assia with the song "Refrain". The first man to win (Andre Claveau) won the third Contest. ABBA was the first group to win. The first person to win the Contest twice was Johnny Logan. The first woman to win twice was Loreen, whose second win is the most recent victory.
International versions
There are some other versions of Eurovision including:
Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Dance Contest
Turkvision Song Contest
American Song Contest
Eurovision Young Musicians
Eurovision Young Dancers
OTI Festival
AfriMusic Song Contest
Bundevision Song Contest
Asia Song Contest
Notes
In 1969 four countries were joint winners as there was no rule for a tie.
Cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Replaced by a programme called Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light.
Other 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 items
The Eurovision History - National Finals & Eurovision Entries
1956 establishments in Europe