Jump to content

Eurovision Song Contest

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Discospinster (talk | contribs) at 17:39, 2 July 2006 (Revert to revision 61678621 dated 2006-07-02 12:14:41 by Eurosong using popups). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"Eurovision" redirects here. For other uses, see Eurovision (disambiguation).
File:Escgeneric.gif
Eurovision Song Contest logo

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held between active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union, in which participating countries each submit a song to be performed on live television; then proceed to cast votes for the other countries' songs, in order to find the most popular song in the 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 is also the world's biggest song contest in terms of audience figures, which in recent years have been quoted as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally.[1]

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 submitted an entry at least once, and the name "Eurovision" (or "Grand Prix" as it used to be known in French-speaking countries) is a household name which spans an entire continent.

The Eurovision stage has been graced by such best-selling artists as ABBA, Anna Vissi, Baccara, Céline Dion, Sir Cliff Richard, Julio Iglesias, Katrina and the Waves, Lara Fabian, Lulu, Mocedades, Olivia Newton-John, Sandie Shaw, The Shadows, t.A.T.u., and Vicky Leandros.

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. This was conceived during a meeting in Monaco in 1955 by Marcel Baison, an employee of the EBU. The competition was based upon the existing San Remo Music Festival, held in Italy, and was seen also as a technological experiment in live television: in those days, it was quite a pioneering concept to have many countries joined together in a wide-area international network. Satellite television did not exist, and the so-called Eurovision Network was held together by ground cables.

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: all Contests from 1957 and onwards have allowed one entry per country. The 1956 Contest was won by the host nation, Switzerland.

The name "Eurovision" was first used by British journalist George Campey in the London Evening Standard in 1951.[2] The Eurovision Network is used to carry many news and sports programmes internationally, among other specialised events organised by the EBU. However, the Song Contest is by far the most high profile of these programmes, and has long since become synonymous with the name "Eurovision".

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 programme which is transmitted across the Eurovision Network by the EBU simultaneously to all countries. The programme is hosted by one of the broadcasters 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. At the end of the programme, the winner is declared as the song with the most points. 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 allowed first refusal of hosting 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. Between the songs and the announcement of the voting an interval act is performed, which can be any form of entertainment imaginable. Interval entertainment has included such acts as The Wombles (1974) and the first presentation of Riverdance (1994).

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 programme is traditionally held on a Spring Saturday evening, at 20:00 BST. Usually one Saturday in May in chosen, although the Contest has been held as early as March.

Participation

The Contest is open to participation by Active Members (as opposed to Associate Members) of the European Broadcasting Union, whose countries fall within the European Broadcasting Area. EBU members include broadcasting organisations whose transmissions are made available to (virtually) all of the population of the country in which they are based.[3] 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. This explains the inclusion of Israel in the Contest, despite the country not being a part of geographical or political Europe. In 1980, Morocco - a North African country, participated in the Contest.

Forty-five countries have participated at least once in the Contest. These are listed here alongside the year in which they made their debut:

Map showing Song Contest participation since 1956: most countries in Europe have participated at least once. Click the map for a colour key.

Rules

Main article: Rules of the Eurovision Song Contest

There are a number of rules which must be observed by the participating nations. The rules have been modified over the years to keep up with the ever-changing demands placed upon the Contest over time.

Hosting rules

In 1958 it was decided that from then on, the winning country shall have first refusal of hosting the Contest the next year. The winner of the 1958 Contest was the Netherlands, and Dutch television accepted the responsibility of hosting in 1959. 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 exceptions are:

  • 1960 - hosted by the BBC in London when the Netherlands declined due to expense
  • 1963 - hosted by the BBC in London when France declined due to expense
  • 1972 - hosted by the BBC in Edinburgh when Monaco were unable to provide a suitable venue
  • 1974 - hosted by the BBC in Brighton when Luxembourg declined due to expense
  • 1980 - hosted by NOS in The Hague when Israel declined due to expense, and the fact that the date chosen for the Contest (19 April) was Israel's Remembrance Day that year.

The declinations due to expense were due to those broadcasters' already having hosted the Contest during the past couple of years, following consecutive wins.

Since 1981, all Contests have been held in the country which won the previous year.

Live music rules

From 1956 until 1998, it was necessary for the host country to provide a live orchestra for the use of the participants. Prior to 1973, all music was required to be played by the host orchestra. 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 to provide a live orchestra, although the host broadcaster could still do so if they chose. The host that year, Israel's IBA, decided not to use an orchestra in order to save on expenses, and 1999 became the first year in which all of the songs were played as pre-recorded backing tracks. The orchestra has not since made an appearance at the Contest; the last time being in 1998 when the BBC hosted the show in Birmingham.

All vocals must be sung live: no voices are permitted on backing tracks. In 1999, the Croatian song featured sounds on their backing track which sounded suspiciously like human voices. The Croatian delegation argued that it was not human singing, but digitally-synthesised sounds which replicated vocals. The EBU nevertheless ruled that they had broken the spirit of the rules, and docked them 33% of their points total that year as used for calculating their five-year points average for future qualification.[citation needed]

Language rules

The rule requiring countries to sing in their own national language has been changed several times over the years. From 1956 until 1965, there was no rule restricting the languages in which the songs could be sung. In 1966, a rule was imposed stating that the songs must be performed in one of the official languages of the country participating. Theoretically this permitted the United Kingdom to sing in Cornish, for example, although that never happened.

The language restriction continued until 1973, when it was lifted and performers were again free sing in any language they wished. Several winners in the mid 1970s took advantage of the newly-found freedom, as non-native-English-speaking countries performed in English, including ABBA in 1974.

In 1977, the EBU decided to revert to the national language restriction. However, special dispensation was given to Germany and Belgium as their selection process was already too advanced to change.

In 1999, the rule was changed yet again to allow freedom of language once more.

Broadcasting rules

Each participating broadcaster is required to broadcast the show in its entirety.

Political recognition issues

In 1978 when it became apparent during the later stages of the voting sequence that Israel were going to win the Contest, Jordanian television cut the broadcast and showed pictures of flowers. Afterwards, the Jordanian media refused to acknowledge the fact that Israel had won and announced that the winner was Belgium (which had actually come 2nd).[citation needed]

In 1981 when Cyprus made its debut, Turkish television cut to an advertisement break. Since Turkey was actually a participant (as opposed to Jordan in 1978), they were later warned by the EBU that if they repeated such a violation of the rules, they would be excluded in the future.[citation needed]

In 2005, Lebanon intended to participate in the Contest. However, Lebanese law does not allow recognition of Israel, and consequently Lebanese television did not intend to transmit the Israeli entry. The EBU informed them that such an act would breach the rules of the Contest, and Lebanon were subsequently forced to withdraw from the competition. Their late withdrawal incurred a fine, since they had already confirmed their participation and the deadline has passed.[4]

Other notable rules

  • In the first Contest in 1956, there was no time limit on songs. In 1957, a limit of 3½ minutes was imposed. This was later revised to 3 minutes precisely.
  • During the presentation of the programme, English and French must be used by the presenters. This rule does not preclude a host nation from also conducting part of their presentation in their own national language if they choose to, if it is other than English or French.
  • A maximum of six performers are permitted on the stage during a country's performance.
  • The performance and/or lyrics or a song "must not bring the Contest into disrepute".

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. There is a rule which forbids any song being entered which has been previously commercially released or broadcast in public before a certain date relative to the Contest in question. 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, therefore giving a country an unfair advantage due to the fact that their 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. The EBU encourages broadcasters to use the public competition format, as this generates more publicity for the Contest. These public selections are known as National Finals.

Some countries' national finals are, in that country, 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. This has become the highest-rated programme of the year in Sweden by TV audience figures.[citation needed]

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.

Voting

Main article: Voting at the Eurovision Song Contest

The voting systems used have changed throughout the years, but the one with which most people are familiar is the current (as of 2006) system whereby 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. This system of voting has been in place since 1975.

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. The experiment was a success, and from 1998 onwards all countries were encouraged to use televoting wherever possible. Back-up juries are still utilised by each country, in the event of the televote failing for whatever reason. Nowadays members of the public may also vote by SMS, in addition to televoting. Whichever method of voting is used - jury, telephone or SMS - it is not possible to vote for your own country.

Presentation of votes

Electronic scoreboard, as Johnny Logan announces the Irish votes in 2004

After the interval act is over, when all the points have been calculated, the host country calls each voting country in turn to request their points. Prior to 1995 the announcements were made over telephone lines, with the audio being piped into the auditorium for the audience to hear, and over the television transmission. With the advent of more reliable satellite networks, from 1995 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.

Votes are read out in ascending order, finishing with the maximum 12 points. The scores are repeated by the Contest's presenters in English and French, which has given rise to the infamous "douze points" exclamation when the host repeats the top score in French.

In the early days of the Contest the points were displayed on a physical scoreboard to the side of the stage. As digital graphic technology progressed, the physical scoreboards were superseded by an electronic representation which could be displayed on the TV screen at the will of the programme's director.

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. In the 2006 Contest, the points from 1-7 were flashed up onto the screen automatically, and the announcers only read out the 8, 10 and 12 points individually.

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. After this occurrence, a system was put into place.

Tie-break rules

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. If there is still a tie, the numbers of 10-point scores awarded are compared - and then the numbers of 8-points, all the way down the list. In the extremely unlikely event of there then still being a tie for first place, the tied countries are jointly declared as the winners.

In practice

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. Both France and Sweden had received four sets of 12 points. However, because Sweden had received more sets of 10 points, they were declared the winners - much to the chagrin of the French. It is interesting to note that if the current tie-break system had been used which takes into account the number of countries voting, then France would have won the 1991 Contest instead; having received points from 18 countries, whereas Sweden received points from only 17.

Scrutineer

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 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 their votes after seeing how the trend has gone before them on the scoreboard.

The scrutineer may be referred to at any time during a situation where the rules need clarification.

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. In recent years the nominal limit has been three hours, with the broadcast occasionally overrunning. In 2005 the programme was a little under 3½ hours long. Following the introduction of the shortened voting announcements in 2006, the duration of that Contest was three hours and five minutes.

Relegation

Since 1994, 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. Therefore several relegation or qualification systems have been tried in order to limit the number of countries participating in the competition in any given year. In 1993, a simple system of relegation was imposed whereby the countries ending at the bottom of the score table would have to skip a year, in order to allow new countries into the 1994 Contest. In 1994, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia and Slovakia all participated for the first time.

In 1996 a pre-selection system was used for the first time. Audio tapes containing all the entries were sent to juries in each of the countries some weeks before the television show. These juries selected the songs which would then proceed to be included in the international broadcast. Norway, as the host country that year (having won the 1995 Contest), automatically qualified and was therefore excluded from the necessity of going through the pre-selection.

Germany failed to qualify in the 1996 pre-selection. As one of the largest financial contributors to the EBU, together with having one of the largest television audiences in Europe, neither they nor the EBU were happy about their exclusion from the international final.

The "Big Four"

Prompted by the unacceptable non-qualification of Germany in the 1996 Contest, a new rule was made: four particular countries would always qualify for the Eurovision final, regardless of their positions on the scoreboard in previous Contests. They earned this special status by being the four biggest financial contributors to the EBU (without which the production of the Eurovision Song Contest would not be possible). 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 2003, countries qualified for the Contest based on various calculations involving average points totals for their entries over the previous years. However, there was much discontent voiced over this system because of the fact that a country could be punished by not being allowed to enter merely because of previous performance, which had no regard for how good a fresh attempt might be. This led the EBU to create what was hoped would be a more permanent solution to the problem, which was to have two shows every year: a qualification round, and the grand final. The qualification round became known as the Eurovision Semi-Final.

Semi-Final

The 2004 Contest introduced the qualification round. The "semi-final" was held on the Wednesday during Eurovision Week, and was a programme similar in format to the Grand Final, whose time slot remained 20:00 BST on the Saturday. In 2005 and 2006, the semi-final programme was held on the Thursday of Eurovision Week.

The semi-final includes those countries whose scoreboard ranking the previous year was not high enough to ensure their direct qualification for the final. As of 2006, it is necessary for a country to attain a place within the top ten of the scoreboard to be assured of direct qualification for next year's Grand Final. The Big Four rule remains, so that France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom always automatically bypass the semi-final and are directly included in the 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 it is possible for a country to vote in the Saturday Grand Final even though they did not qualify from the semi-final.

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 announcement of the actual number of points these qualifiers received is witheld until after the Grand Final, lest the news influence the result on Saturday through tactical voting or otherwise.

Hosting

Most of the expense of the Contest is covered by event sponsors and contributions from the other participating nations. The 2004 Contest was allocated a budget of some €15 million and was the most expensive edition to date.[citation needed] The Contest is considered a unique showcase for launching the host country as a tourist destination. In the Summer of 2005, Ukraine abolished its normal visa requirements for tourists to coincide with its hosting of the Contest.[citation needed]

Although since 1958, first refusal for the chance to host has been given to the previous year's winning country, this has not always been taken up - due to reasons of finance, practicality or otherwise. The United Kingdom holds the record for having hosted the Contest the most times - eight in total (1960, 1963, 1968, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1982 and 1998). Even though they have only won five times, the BBC have stepped in to host the show on three occasions after the winning countries were unable to do so. After the four-way tie for first place in 1969, lots were drawn and the Netherlands were given the honour of hosting the 1970 show.

Globen, Stockholm: host of Eurovision 2000

Preparations to host the Contest start a matter of weeks after a country wins, and confirms to the EBU that the intend to - and have the capacity to - host the event. A host city is chosen (usually the capital, but not always), and a suitable concert venue. The largest concert venue was a football stadium in Copenhagen, Parken, which held an audience of approximately 38,000 people when Denmark hosted the Contest in 2001. The smallest town in which the Contest has ever been held was Millstreet in County Cork, Ireland, which hosted the show in 1993. The village had a population of 1,500 - although the Green Glens Arena venue held considerably more audience members.

It is always a consideration, when choosing a host city and venue, what hotel and press facilities there are in the vicinity. In Kiev 2005, hotel rooms were scarce as the Ukrainian government put a block on bookings they did not control themselves through official delegation allocations or tour packages. The impact that the Contest has on the host city is inversely proportional to its size: in Riga 2003, the city centre was virtually taken over by Eurovision delegates as they spent their week in the capital.

Commentators

Each broadcaster is given the opportunity to supply their own commentator for their TV and/or radio feed, to be broadcast in each country. The commentators are given special commentary booths situated around the back of the arena behind the audience. The most internationally well-known of Eurovision commentators is the BBC's Terry Wogan, who provides the commentary for BBC One television in the United Kingdom. He is notorious for his tongue-in-cheek commentary, poking fun at anything he thinks the television viewers may find amusing.

Eurovision Week

Since it's a live show, the Eurovision Song Contest requires the performers to have perfected their acts in rehearsals in order that the big night runs smoothly. Aside from rehearsals in their home countries, every participant is given the opportunity to rehearse on the stage in the Eurovision auditorium. These rehearsals are held over several days before the Saturday show, and consequently the delegations arrive in the host city many days before the event. This means, in turn, journalists and fans are also present during the preceeding days, and the events of Eurovision last a lot longer than a few short hours of television. A number of officially accredited hotels are selected for the delegations to stay in, and shuttle-bus services are laid on to ferry the performers and accompanying people to and from the Contest venue.

Rehearsals and Press Conferences

Estonia rehearsing at the 2006 Contest

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 advent of the semi-final - and consequently a lot more countries taking part - since 2004 the first rehearsals have commenced during the week before the Contest. 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.

Switzerland hosting a press conference at Eurovision 2006

After each country has rehearsed, the delegation meets with the show's artistic director in the video viewing room. They then watch the footage of the rehearsal just performed and discuss camera angles and other artistic aspects of the presentation, in order to try to achieve maximum æsthetic effect on television. Following this meeting, the delegation hold a press conference where members of the accredited press may pose them questions. The rehearsals and press conferences are held in parallel; 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; then one final dress rehearsal of the semi-final is held on the Thursday morning before the live show that evening. Once the grand final line-up is known, two dress rehearsals are held on the Friday, and then another last one on Saturday morning before the live transmission of the grand final on Saturday evening.

Parties and Euroclub

On the Monday evening of Eurovision Week is traditionally held the Mayor's Reception, where the city administration hosts a celebration that Eurovision has come to their city. This is usually held in a grand municipally-owned location in the city centre. All delegations are invited, and the party is usually accompanied by live music, complimentary food and drink and - in recent years - fireworks.

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.

A Euroclub is held every night of the week: a Eurovision-themed nightclub, to which all accredited personnel are invited.

During the week many delegations have traditionally hosted their own parties in addition to the officially-sponsored ones. However, in recent years the trend has been for the national delegations to centralise their activity and hold their celebrations in the Euroclub.

Winners

Main article: Eurovision Song Contest 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. However, throughout the history of the Contest relatively few names have gone on to be huge international stars.

Winning artists

File:ABBA Waterloo.jpg
ABBA performing their winning song "Waterloo"

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. ABBA went on to be one of the most successful bands of their time.

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. Céline's success, however, is not as directly attributed to her winning the Contest, as she achieved international fame some years later.

Other artists who have achieved varying degrees of success after winning the Contest include Johnny Logan (who won twice for Ireland in 1980 and 1987), France Gall (Luxembourg 1965), Bucks Fizz (UK 1981), Nicole (Germany 1982), Secret Garden (Norway 1995) and Ruslana (Ukraine 2004). Many other winners include well-known artists who won the Contest mid-career, after they had already established themselves as successful.

Some artists, however, have vanished into relative obscurity, making little or no impact on the international music scene since their win.

Winning countries

Ireland hold the record for the most number of wins, having won the Contest seven times - including three times in a row in the mid 1990s. In joint second place with five wins each are France, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom, which has the best over-all record at the Contest, having come second on no fewer than fifteen occasions.

The early years of the Contest saw many wins for "traditional" Eurovision countries: France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. However the success of these countries has declined in recent decades: the Netherlands last won in 1975; France in 1977; and Luxembourg in 1983. The last time Luxembourg entered the Contest was in 1993.

The first years of the 21st century produced a spate of first-time winners, from both "new" Eurovision countries, and old-timers who have entered for many years without a win. Every year from 2001 to 2006 inclusive resulted in a first-time winning country. The 2006 winner was Finland, who finally won after having entered the Contest for 45 years. The Ukraine did not nearly have to wait so long, winning with their second entry ever in 2004.

As of 2006, the country who has entered the longest with no wins to their name is Portugal. They started entering in 1964, and are still awaiting their first win.

Criticisms

The Contest has been the subject of much criticism over the years, both for its musical content and the perception that it is more about politics than it is about music.

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. Deviations from this formula have rarely achieved success, leading to criticism that the music in the Contest is old-fashioned, and "bubblegum pop".[5] Since it's a visual show, many performances attempt to attract the attention of the voters through means other than the music, which sometimes leads to bizarre onstage gimmicks.

Political voting

The Contest has long been perceived as a political institution, where countries allocate points based on their nation's political relationship to the other countries, rather than on their opinion of the songs.[6] An analysis of voting patterns does indeed show that certain countries tend to favour certain other countries with which they are politically aligned.[7] Defenders of the Contest argue that the reason certain countries allocate disproportionately high points to others is because they have similar musical taste and culture,[8] and are therefore more likely to appreciate each other's music: for example the reason why Greece and Cyprus frequently exchange 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 cropped up over the years:

In Autumn 2005 the EBU organised a special programme to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Contest. The show, entitled Congratulations (after Cliff Richard's entry for the United Kingdom in 1968) was held in Copenhagen, and featured many artists from the last 50 years of the Contest. A telephone vote was held to detemine the most popular Eurovision song of all-time, which was won by ABBA's Waterloo (winner, Sweden 1974).

Official websites

Fan sites

Notes

  1. ^ Aljazeera Arab World News & Museum of Broadcast Communications
  2. ^ 1951 in Media
  3. ^ European Broadcasting Union members' criteria
  4. ^ BBC article about forced withdrawal of Lebanon
  5. ^ Eurovision: The Candy-Coated Song Factory
  6. ^ BBC: UK entrant blames political voting for poor placing
  7. ^ Connections, cliques and compatibility between countries in the Eurovision Song Contest - Oxford University, 2006 Template:PDFlink
  8. ^ Geography, Culture, and Religion: Explaining the Bias in Eurovision Song Contest Voting - University of Twente, Netherlands Template:PDFlink

Template:EurovisionCountries

Template:Link FA

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eurovision_Song_Contest&oldid=61712702"