List of languages in the Eurovision Song Contest
The following is a list of languages used in the Eurovision Song Contest since its inception in 1956, including songs (as) performed in finals and, since 2004, semi-finals.
The rules concerning the language of the entries have been changed several times. In the past, the Contest's organizers have sometimes compelled countries to only sing in their own languages, but since 1999 no such restriction has existed.
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Rule changes [edit]
From 1956 until 1965, there was no rule restricting the language(s) in which the songs could be sung. For example, in the 1965 Contest, Ingvar Wixell of Sweden sang his song in English.
From 1966 to 1973, a rule was imposed that a song must be performed in one of the official languages of the country participating.
From 1973 to 1976 inclusive, participants were allowed to enter songs in any language. Several winners took advantage of this, with songs in English by countries where other languages are spoken, including ABBA's song in 1974.[1]
In 1977, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the Contest's organisers, reimposed the national language restriction. However, Germany and Belgium were given a special dispensation to use other languages, as their national song selection procedures were already too advanced to change. The restriction was again imposed in 1998
From 1999 onwards, a free choice of language was again allowed. Since then, several countries have chosen songs that mixed languages, often English and their national language. Prior to that, songs such as Croatia's "Don't Ever Cry" (1993), Austria's "One Step" and Bosnia and Herzegovina's "Goodbye" (1997) had a title and one line of the song in a non-native language.
Since 2000 some songs have used artificial or non-existent languages: the Belgian entries in 2003 ("Sanomi") and 2008 ("O Julissi") were entirely in imaginary languages. In 2006 the Dutch entry, "Amambanda", was sung partly in English and partly in an artificial language.
The entry which used the most languages was "It's Just a Game", sung by the Bendik Singers for Norway in 1973. It was performed in English and French, with some lyrics in Spanish, Italian, Dutch, German, Irish, Serbo-Croatian, Hebrew, Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian. In 2012 Bulgaria's entry, "Love Unlimited" had lyrics in Bulgarian, with phrases in Turkish, Greek, Spanish, Serbo-Croatian, French, Romani, Italian, Azerbaijani, Arabic and English.
As of 2013, only three countries have never entered a song in one or more of their national language(s): Belarus has used neither Belarusian nor Russian since its first participation in 2004, Azerbaijan has not used Azerbaijani since its debut in 2008 and Monaco has not used Monégasque, which is one of the official languages of Monaco.
On the other hand, as of 2013, there are only twelve countries whose representatives have performed all their songs (fully or partially) in an official, regional or national language: Andorra, France, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Morocco, Portugal, Serbia, Spain and the United Kingdom
Criticism [edit]
French legislator François-Michel Gonnot criticized French television and launched an official complaint in the French Parliament, as the song which represented France in 2008, "Divine", was sung in English.[2]
Languages and their first appearance [edit]
Source: The Diggiloo Thrush
Winners by language [edit]
| Wins | Language | Years | Countries |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | English | 1967, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,[6] 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 | United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Turkey, Ukraine,[6] Greece, Finland, Russia, Norway, Germany, Azerbaijan |
| 14 | French | 1956, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1983, 1986, 1988 | Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Monaco, Belgium |
| 3 | Dutch | 1957, 1959, 1969 | Netherlands |
| Hebrew | 1978, 1979, 1998 | Israel | |
| 2 | German | 1966, 1982 | Austria, Germany |
| Norwegian | 1985, 1995 | Norway | |
| Swedish | 1984, 1991 | Sweden | |
| Italian | 1964, 1990 | Italy | |
| Spanish | 1968, 1969 | Spain | |
| 1 | Danish | 1963 | Denmark |
| Serbo-Croatian | 1989 | Yugoslavia | |
| Serbian | 2007 | Serbia |
The Contest's name in national languages [edit]
This is what the "Eurovision Song Contest" is called in the official languages of current and past participant countries of the contest.
| Language | Countries which language has official status in | Name in language |
|---|---|---|
| Albanian |  Albania |
Festivali Evropian i Këngës |
| Arabic |  Israel,  Morocco |
مسابقة يوروفيجن للأغاني |
| Armenian |  Armenia |
Եվրատեսիլ երգի մրցույթ |
| Azerbaijani |  Azerbaijan |
Avroviziya Mahnı Müsabiqəsi |
| Belarusian |  Belarus |
Конкурс песні Еўрабачанне |
| Bosnian |  Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Pjesma Evrovizije |
| Bulgarian |  Bulgaria |
Песенен конкурс Евровизия |
| Catalan |  Andorra,  Spain |
Festival de la Cançó d'Eurovisió |
| Croatian | Bosnia and Herzegovina,  Croatia |
Pjesma Eurovizije |
| Czech |  Czech Republic |
Velká cena Eurovize |
| Danish |  Denmark |
Europæisk Melodi Grand Prix |
| Dutch |  Belgium,  Netherlands |
Eurovisiesongfestival |
| English |  Ireland,  Malta,  United Kingdom |
Eurovision Song Contest |
| Estonian |  Estonia |
Eurovisiooni lauluvõistlus |
| Finnish |  Finland |
Eurovision laulukilpailu |
| French | Belgium,  France,  Luxembourg,  Monaco,  Switzerland |
Concours Eurovision de la Chanson |
| Georgian |  Georgia |
ევროვიზიის სიმღერის კონკურსი |
| German |  Austria, Belgium,  Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland |
Eurovision Song Contest |
| Greek |  Cyprus,  Greece |
Διαγωνισμός Τραγουδιού Eurovision |
| Hebrew | Israel |
תחרות הזמר של האירוויזיון |
| Hungarian |  Hungary |
Eurovíziós Dalfesztivál |
| Icelandic |  Iceland |
Söngvakeppni evrópskra sjónvarpsstöðva |
| Irish | Ireland |
Comórtas Amhránaíochta na hEoraifíse |
| Italian |  Italy,  San Marino, Switzerland |
Concorso Eurovisione della Canzone |
| Latvian |  Latvia |
Eirovīzijas dziesmu konkurss |
| Lithuanian |  Lithuania |
Eurovizijos dainų konkursas |
| Luxembourgish | Luxembourg |
Eurovision Song Contest |
| Macedonian |  Macedonia |
Евровизија |
| Maltese | Malta |
Festival tal-Eurovision |
| Montenegrin |  Montenegro |
Evrovizija |
| Norwegian (Bokmål) |  Norway |
Eurovisjonens musikkonkurranse |
| Polish |  Poland |
Konkurs Piosenki Eurowizji |
| Portuguese |  Portugal |
Festival Eurovisão da Canção |
| Romanian (Moldovan) |  Moldova,  Romania |
Concursul Muzical Eurovision |
| Romansh | Switzerland |
Eurovision Song Contest |
| Russian | Belarus,  Russia |
Конкурс песни Евровидение |
| Serbian | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro,  Serbia |
Песма Евровизије |
| Slovak |  Slovakia |
Veľká cena Eurovízie, often "Eurovízia" |
| Slovene |  Slovenia |
Pesem Evrovizije , evrovizija |
| Spanish | Spain |
Festival de la Canción de Eurovisión |
| Swedish | Finland,  Sweden |
Eurovision Song Contest |
| Turkish | Cyprus,  Turkey |
Eurovision Şarkı Yarışması |
| Ukrainian |  Ukraine |
Пісенний конкурс Євробачення |
Entries in artificial (constructed) languages [edit]
Three times in the history of the contest, songs have been sung in invented languages.[7]
| Appearance | Country | Performer | Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Belgium |
Urban Trad | "Sanomi" |
| 2006 | Netherlands |
Treble | "Amambanda" |
| 2008 | Belgium |
Ishtar | "O Julissi" |
See also [edit]
Notes [edit]
- ^ "Facts & Trivia". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
- ^ Van Gelder, Lawrence (2008-04-17). "French Singer Stirs Storm". http://www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
- ^ a b c At the time of Yugoslavia's existence the common name for these languages was Serbo-Croatian. The term Croatian came into use during the seventies; Serbian and Bosnian evolved politically in the 1990s (see Serbo-Croatian for more details). Another view is that the first post-breakup entries can be considered the first for the respective languages: "Ljubim te pesmama" for Serbian in 1992, "Sva bol svijeta" for Bosnian in 1993, and "Don't Ever Cry" for Croatian, also in 1993.
- ^ a b Austria has sent two entries to the contest in dialects of German: "Weil der Mensch zählt" was sung in the Styrian dialect in 2003, while "Woki mit deim Popo" was sung in the Mühlviertlerisch dialect in 2012.
- ^ It could be considered that the Yugoslav songs of 1983 (Džuli) and 1984 (Ciao amore) were sung in Montenegrin language, although its autonomy as a language was not recognized until the mid 90s.
- ^ a b This song was partially sung in Ukrainian.
- ^ "Ishtar from Belgium to Belgrade". EBU. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
References [edit]
- O'Connor, John Kennedy (2005). The Eurovision Song Contest 50 Years The Official History. London: Carlton Books Limited. ISBN 1-84442-586-X.
- "Historical Milestones". eurovision.tv. 2005. Archived from the original on 2006-05-26. Retrieved 2006-05-26.
- "Urban Trad". UrbanTrad.com. 28 September 2004. Retrieved 2006-07-18.
- "Treble will represent the Netherlands". eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 2006-05-25. Retrieved 2006-05-25.
- Klier, Marcus (2008-03-09). "Belgium: Ishtar to Eurovision". ESCToday. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
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