EuroMusic Song Contest

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The **EuroMusic Song Contest** (EMSC) is a competitive music festival between European countries (and some expections), where every participating country sends a song to compete in the event. At the end, the results are made by a jury and televoting.

## History

The origins of the contest date back to 2018. The idea was extended to the Eurovision Song Contest and the Eurovision Music Festival. Germany was the first winner of this contest. The next edition was hosted in Germany. Cyprus received the most points and won. For the third edition it was long unclear if Cyprus was able to find a suitable venue. The Cypriotic broadcaster found a venue and became the third host of the contest where the United Kingdom won. Later, Ireland and Sweden won the contest once. In the sixth edition, Ireland received 152 points, a new record, and became so the first country who won the contest twice.

The seventh edition was known as an edition with a very narrow result. Before the show Greece and the United States were the favorites to win. However, the USA finished in the third place. Greece was the winner, but it was a neck and neck race between Greece and the UK. In the next edition, Sweden won the contest with the song "Youniverse". This Swedish act received 157 points, the highest amout ever. The UK finished for the third time in the second place. Malta joined the top 3. The ninth edition took place, for the second time, in Sweden. The host city was Gothenborg. The Netherlands was the favorite to win the show, what they did. Switzerland and Finland finished as second and third. At the anniversary edition in Amsterdam, Germany won the contest for the second time. They received 198 points, a new record. Norway and Denmark completed the top three.

Germany hosted the contest for the second time in the eleventh edition. 32 countries participated in this edition, and it was the first edition in the history of the contest with two semi finals. Norway won the first one, and the United States won the second one. In the final three countries were in the running to take the victory: Germany, Austria and the United States. When the last voting country, Germany, had to give their points, the USA had to receive at least two points. Germany awarded the song with 8 points, so the first victory of the United States was a fact. They had a total amount of 227 points, a new record. Because the USA were not able to host the contest on their territory, they needed to search a broadcaster to co-host the 12th edition. After a selection, the NBC decided to co-host this edition together with the SRG SSR, the broadcaster of Switzerland. In the final Malta took the leading position in the beginning of the voting. However, the United States received more points in the second part. At the end it was clear that the USA won the contest for a second time. Malta ended at the second place. Co-host, Switzerland finished at the third place. The United States are the first who succeeded to win the contest in two consecutive editions.

The thirteenth edition took place in Israel, because the USA won the previous edition and decided to co-host with the Israeli broadcaster. Germany was able to win for the third time. It was the first time that a country could win three editions. Sweden ended at the second place and the USA finished for the second time as third. Germany hosted the contest for the third time at the fourteenth edition. Spain won the contest for the very first time, but with the lowest score since the ninth edition. As in the previous edition, Sweden and the USA finshed at the second and third place. Madrid hosted the contest in the fifteenth edition. They were the first city who hosted the contest twice. In this edition there were 35 participating countries. Malta won the grand final with 270 points, followed by the USA and Iceland. It was the first Maltese victory.

The sixteenth edition took place in Ta' Qali, Malta. In the final Germany received the most of points. They won already for the fourth time the contest. Armenia, who ended at the second place, was it the first time that they finished at the top three. Sweden finished at the third place. Malta, who hosted this edition, finished at the eleventh place. For the fourth time, the contest took place in Germany. This time got Cologne the honour to host this edition. Romania who returned to the contest won the seventeenth edition of the contest. The second place was for the debuting country: Czech Republic. Netherlands finished at the third place. Germany finished just at the 19th place. The eigteenth edition took place in Bucharest, Romania. The top-favorite, Sweden, won the contest with the song: *A million years*. Bulgaria finished at the second place, their best result so far. Host country Romania ended at the third place. Sweden hosted the contest for the third time in the 19th edition, because of their victory in Bucharest. At the end won Azerbaijan. It was the first post-Soviet state who was able to win the competition. The USA who returned finished at the second place but they were followed closely by Sweden, who finished third.

The twentieth edition took place in Baku, Azerbaijan. 34 countries took part in this edition. Bulgaria won this edition with 229 points followed by the hosting nation Azerbaijan and Romania. the Bulgarian entry: If love was a crime contained lyrics in both English and Bulgarian. It was since the nineth edition that the winning song had a non-English part. Bulgaria hosted their first EuroMusic-event in the twenty-first edition of the contest. In the final, there was a neck-and-neck race between the UK and Russia. When Bulgaria was the last country to give points, the UK came over Russia. The UK won this edition with only a margin of two points. Germany completed the top three. Glasgow was choosen as hostcity for the twenty-second. 35 countries took part and the final was won by the Romanian entry "*Playing with fire*". They received from every voting country points. This was the first time since the 13th edition. Israel and Sweden completed the top three.

Romania hosted the contest for the second time in Bucharest. They again choosed the Romexpo as host venue. It was the first time in the history that the contest took place twice in the same venue. Poland, who returned, won the contest for the first time. Germany finished at the second place while Malta completed the top three. Romania, who hosted the contest ended at the last place. The 24th edition took place in Krakow, Poland. Only 28 countries decided to participate in the contest. Because of this, the eleven best countries from the previous edition automatically for the grand final. In the semi final, ten countries received a ticket to the grand final. Slovakia, who qualified for the first time, won the contest. Bulgaria and Azerbaijan completed the top three. The 25th edition took place in Bratislava. For this edition, the EBU decided to drop the semi finals because of the lack of interesting broadcasters. 21 countries would be able to sign up to participate. It was the first time since the ninth edition that there was no semi final. Azerbaijan won this edition. Russia finished at the second place and Belgium at the third place.

Baku was chosen to host the contest for the second time. 21 countries took part in the 26th edition. During the voting, Malta began very good. Halfway they were the leader in the scoreboard. Later on, Poland took this possition and they were able to keep that until the end. Poland won the contest for the second time. Malta and Australia completed the top three. Because of the Polish victory, TVP hosted the 27th edition. Warsaw was chosen as host city. A new rule was introduced. Because there is a limit on the participating countries, the EBU decided to have the three lowest scoring countries from the previous edition compulsorily withdrawn. This means that there are always three spots for returning countries. An exception applies if no countries aim to return, or if another country from that edition voluntarily withdraws. The country that finished 19th will then have the first chance to participate. Azerbaijan won this edition followed by Sweden and Germany.

Switzerland won the 28th edition after a very exciting voting. When Belarus, the last voting country, was ready to give points it Switzerland had two points more than Iceland. When Belarus awarded the first set of points, Switzerland just received one point. However, Switzerland won this edition because Iceland didn't receive any points from Belarus. It was the first Swiss victory. The 29th edition took place in Geneva, Switzerland. Iceland was able to take their first victory in the contest with the song "*Mama said*". Belarus finished at the second place. The Netherlands, who returned, ended at the third place. Reykjavík hosted the thirtieth edition. Finland won this edition. It was their first victory. The UK finished at the second place. Sweden was the winner of the thirty first edition in Helsinki. Croatia finished at the second place, their best result so far in the country's history. The thirty second edition was hosted by Sweden. The contest took place in Gothenburg for the second time. Destiny from Malta won this edition with her song "*Je me casse*". It was the second victory for this Maltese singer. This makes her the first artist to win the contest multiple times. Her previous victory was in the fifteenth edition. Israel surprisingly finished in second place. Denmark, who won the semi final, finished at the third place.

Because of the Maltese victory in the 32nd edition, they hosted their second edition of this contest. Again, Ta'Qali was announced as host city. At the end of the voting in the grand final, Ireland was announced as winner of this edition. It was the third Irish victory. Albania, finished at their best place so far: second. Sweden finished for the fourth time at the third place. Ukaine took their first victory in the 34th edition of the contest in Dublin. Greece finished at the second place with only a margin of two points. Germany completed the top three. Norway won the 35th edition with the song "Fallen angel" performed by Tix. It was the first time that the country won the contest. Poland was able to reach the second place, for the first time. Armenia, a returning country, finished at the third place. In the top ten, only three automaticcaly qualified countries were able to finish here. It was the first edition where the name Turkey changed to Türkiye. The country its broadcaster asked the EBU to change their name, what they eventually did.

Sweden was declared the winner of the 36th edition. It was Sweden its fifth victory, a record. It was the fourth attempt by Swedish singer Eric Saade to give Sweden another victory. Malta finished just behind Sweden after a very exciting scoring. Albania managed to complete the top three. Because of the Swedish victory, the country hosted the contest for the fifth time. Stockholm was choosen as host city. Greece was the winner of this edition with the song "Die together", performed by Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord. It was the country's second victory. Estonia, the winner of the semi final, finished at the second place. Serbia completed the top three. For both nations, it was the best result ever achieved. In the 38th edition, the system of two semi finals was reintroduced. Ireland, Sweden and the hosting nation Greece. Both Ireland and Sweden won their semi final while Greece was qualified automatically because they hosted this years edition. In the grand final, Greece received the most amounth of points and won the edition for the third time in their history. It was only the second time in the history of the contest that a country won the festival in two consecutive editions. Because their victory the were able to host the 39th edition. It was the first time ever a country hosted the contest in two consecutive editions. The contest moved from Thessaloniki to Athens. Australia won this edition with the song "Sound of silence", performed by Dami Im. It was the first victory for the country. Greece and Malta completed the top three. These three countries were counted as main contenders for the first place. Denmark was seen as one of the favorites to win aswel, but failed to qualify.

SBS had to select another country to host the 40th edition. According the rules, Australia cannot host the contest in their territory, because they are located in Oceania. The Australian broadcaster could co-host this edition together with their choosen broadcaster. Through a selection, they decided to host this edition together with Germany. It was the fifth edition hosted by the German broadcaster but the first time Hamburg hosted the contest. Cyprus won this edition with the song "*Ela*", performed by Andromache. It was the second victory of the Mediterranean island. Their first victory dated back in the second edition. Sweden finished at the second place while Ukraine completed the top three. The returning nation Austria finished at the fourth place. These four countries all came from the second semi final, and finished at the same places. Belgium, who won the first semi final, finished at the fifth place in the grand final. Australia finished at the last place. In the grand final of the 41st edition, Serbia scored the most points and became the winner. It was the first Serbian victory. Israel finished, for the fourth time in their history, at the second place with 12 points behind the winner. Finland finished at the third place. Those three countries were counted as the main contenders for the vitory, according to the bookmakers. Ireland finished at the last place for the first time. However, Ireland received 17 points, the most amounth of points for a last place since the beginning of the contest.

To date only Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom participated in every edition. Germany even performed every edition in the grand final. Besides Germany, Australia and the USA have qualified for the final of every contest they have competed in.

Until now, there are eleven countries who won the contest more than once: Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Malta, Poland, Romania, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.

## Format

Every country send one song to the contest. At least there are 11 countries, and in the first five years, there was no maximum. After the fifth edition, the EBU saw that the contest gain a lot of interest at a lot of countries. They decided to put a maximum of 18 countries in the sixth edition. In the seventh edition, the same rule was used. For the ninth edition, the EBU decided to raise the maximum of participants to 21.

In the tenth edition they introduced the semi final. One edition later they used the system of two semi finals were of each one 10 countries can qualify for the final. The host country is automaticcaly qualified. Since the 25th edition, there is only one grand final.

Countries can only participate if they are member of the EBU. However, the hosting broadcaster can send, since the fourth edition, the television station NBC, from the USA, an invitation to participate. This case again happend in the seventeenth edition. Here Australia got the same status as the USA.

## Number of victories and hosting

To date: Bulgaria, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain and Ukraine won the contest once. Five coutries won the contest twice: Cyprus, Malta, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States. Ireland was the first country who hosted the contest twice, once in Dublin and once in Millstreet.

Azerbaijan, Greece and Ireland won the contest three times. Germany was able to win four times. Sweden however took five victories.

The USA were the first who won the contest in two consecutive editions while Greece hosted as first two consecutive editions. Israel is the only non-winning country, who hosted the contest.

## Participating countries

From the beginning of the contest until the most recent edition, 51 countries took part in the contest. Only in the first edition, the EBU sended an invitation to the broadcasters. Since the fifth edition, there is a maximum of countries. Only 18 countries were allowed to participate in the contest. Since the tenth edition the semi finals were introduced. Because of that, there is no maximum of permitted countries. Since the seventeenth edition, there is a maximum of 41 countries.

The most notable participation is probably the one of the United States. The NBC can participate if the host broadcaster of that edition send then an invitation.

On this map, the countries in green are the countries that took part in at least one edition. The yellow countries are the countries who are able to participate but didn't made their début yet and the grey ones, are the nations who can't participate in this contest.

## Statistics

For more statistics, you can have a look to the following page: Statistics of the EuroMusic Song Contest

Here you can see the top 10 prestations from each country.

Table key
     *Withdrawn* – Countries who have participated in the past but have withdrawn.

## Anniversaries

### 10 Years of the EuroMusic Song Contest

* *Main page: 10 Years of the EuroMusic Song Contest*

After the tenth edition, the EBU announced that they would hold an anniversary edition of the contest. The ten winners of the contest would perform their song. Televoting would decide what was the best winner in the 10 years history of the contest. The song: "*Playing with numbers*" won this special edition. They won for Ireland the fourth edition.

### EuroMusic Song Contest 11-20: The best of

* *Main page: EuroMusic Song Contest 11-20: The best of*

After the twentieth edition, the EBU announced that they would hold another anniversary edition of the contest. The ten winners of this decade would perform their song. Televoting would decide what was the best winner in the 10 years history of the contest. The song: "*St. Elmo's fire (Man in motion)*" won this special edition. They won for the USA the eleventh edition.

### 30 Years of the EuroMusic Song Contest: Let's celebrate!

* *Main page: 30 Years of the EuroMusic Song Contest: Let's celebrate!*

After the twenty eighth edition, the EBU announced that they would organise a huge anniversary edition of the contest. Different as in the previous special shows, every single country can perform with a song. In the show, there are three rounds. The first is the selection round, where a jury and televoting can choose 21 acts. These acts who qualify move on to the semi final. Again, a professional jury and televoting award points. From these semi final, 11 countries qualify for the final.

### EuroMusic Song Celebration

* *Main page: EuroMusic Song Celebration*

When it became apparent that the 30th-anniversary edition would not proceed, the EBU decided to arrange an alternative event. Fifteen countries participated, and both jury points and televoting were used. At the end of the show, it was revealed that Sweden had won. There was later speculation about organizing a second edition, but that has not happened to date.

## See Also

* EuroRegion Song Contest
* EuroMusic Dance Contest
* Eurovision Music Festival
* Junior EuroMusic Song Contest
* MediteranianMusic Song Contest
* WorldMusic Song Contest