Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest (French: Concours Eurovision de la chanson

since 1973;[1] sometimes popularly called Eurovision or Grand Prix but not to Eurovision Song Contest
be confused with the Eurovision network that broadcasts it. It is the longest-
running annual international TV song competition,[2] held, primarily, among the
member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1956. The
competition was based upon the existing Sanremo Music Festival held in Italy
since 1951.
Also known as Eurovision
Each participating country submits an original song to be performed on live ESC
television and radio and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to Grand Prix
determine the most popular song in the competition. The contest has been Genre Song contest
broadcast every year for sixty-two years, since its inauguration in 1956, and is Created by Marcel Bezençon
one of the longest-running television programmes in the world. It is also one of
Based on Sanremo Music
the most watched non-sporting events in the world,[3] with audience figures
Festival or
having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and
Festival della
600 million internationally.[4][5] Eurovision has also been broadcast outside
Canzone Italiana
Europe to several countries that do not compete, such as the United States,
Canada, New Zealand, and China. An exception was made in 2015, when
Presented by List of presenters
Australia was allowed to compete as a guest entrant as part of the celebration of Theme music Marc-Antoine
the 60th anniversary of the event.[6][7][8] In November 2015, the EBU composer Charpentier
announced that Australia was invited back as a participant in the 2016 contest Opening theme Te Deum: Marche
after their success in 2015.[9] Following their success again in 2016, Australia en rondeau
competed again in 2017.[10] Since 2000, the contest has also been broadcast (prelude)
over the Internet via the Eurovision website.[11]
Ending theme Te Deum: Marche
Winning the Eurovision Song Contest provides a short-term boost to the en rondeau
winning artists' career, but rarely results in long-term success.[12] Notable (prelude)
exceptions are ABBA (winner in 1974 for Sweden), Bucks Fizz (winner in 1981 Country of origin List of countries
for the United Kingdom) and Céline Dion (winner in 1988 for Switzerland), all Original English and
of whom launched successful worldwide careers after their wins. language(s) French

Ireland holds the record for the highest number of wins, having won the contest No. of episodes 62 contests
seven times—including four times in five years in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996. Production
Under the current voting system, the highest scoring winner is Salvador Sobral
Location(s) Hosted by
of Portugal who won the 2017 contest in Kiev, Ukraine, with 758 points. Under
previous winner
the previous system, in place from 1975 to 2015, the highest scoring winner is
(with some
Alexander Rybak of Norway with 387 points in2009.
exceptions) (List
of host cities)
Running time 2 hours (semi-

Contents finals)
3 hours 30 minutes
Origins
(final)
Naming
4 hours (2015)
Format
Participation Production European
 Hosting company(s) Broadcasting
Host country Union
Eurovision logo and theme
Slogans
Distributor Eurovision
Eurovision Week Release
Rehearsals and press conferences
Picture format 4:3 576i (SDTV)
Parties and Euroclub
(1956–2004)
Rules
Live music 16:9 576i (SDTV)
Language (2005)
Voting 1080i (HDTV)
Presentation of votes
(2006–2013)
Ties for first place
4k (UHDTV)
Broadcasting
Archive status (2014–)
Political recognition issues Original release 24 May 1956 –
Other present
Expansion of the contest
Chronology
Pre-selections and relegation
Big Four and Big Five Related shows Eurovision Young
Qualification and semi-finals Musicians (1982–)
Winners Eurovision Young
Winning artists
Dancers (1985–)
Winning countries
Junior Eurovision
Anniversaries
Song Contest
Songs of Europe
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest (2003–)
Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits Eurovision Dance
Criticism and controversy Contest (2007–
Musical style and presentation 2008)
Political and geographical voting Eurovision Choir of
Running order of the participating songs
the Year (2017–)
Spin-offs
Eurovision Asia
Notes Song Contest
References (2018–)
Further reading
External links
External links
www.eurovision.tv www.eurovision.tv
Production www3.ebu.ch
Origins website /about

In the 1950s, as a war-torn Europe rebuilt itself, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)—based in Switzerland—set up an ad hoc
committee to search for ways of bringing together the countries of the EBU around a "light entertainment programme".[13] At a
committee meeting held in Monaco in January 1955 with Marcel Bezençon of the Swiss television as chairman, the committee
conceived the idea (initially proposed by Sergio Pugliese of the Italian television RAI) of an international song contest where
countries would participate in one television programme to be transmitted simultaneously to all countries of the union.[13][14] The
competition was based upon the existing Sanremo Music Festivalheld in Italy[15] and was seen as a technological experiment in live
television, as in those days it was a very ambitious project to join many countries together in a wide-area international network.
Satellite television did not exist, and the Eurovision Network comprised a terrestrial microwave network.[16] The concept, then
known as "Eurovision Grand Prix", was approved by the EBU General Assembly in a meeting held in Rome on 19 October 1955, and
it was decided that the first contest would take place in spring 1956 in Lugano, Switzerland.[13] The name "Eurovision" was first
ge Campey in the LondonEvening Standard in 1951.[14]
used in relation to the EBU's network by British journalist Geor

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: since 1957, all contests
have allowed one entry per country. The 1956 contest was won by the host nation, Switzerland.[17]

Naming
The programme was first known as the "Eurovision Grand Prix" (in English). This "Grand Prix" name was adopted by Germany,
Denmark, Norway and the Francophone countries, with the French designation being Le Grand-Prix Eurovision de la Chanson
Européenne.[18] The "Grand Prix" has been dropped in 1973 and replaced with Concours (contest) in French and in 2001 with the
English name in German, but not in Danish or Norwegian. The Eurovision network is used to carry many news and sports
programmes internationally, among other specialised events organised by the EBU.[19] However, in the minds of the public, the name
[16]
"Eurovision" is most closely associated with the Song Contest.
 Official
Year(s) English French Other languages logo
language
1956– N/A French
1964
Grand Prix Eurovision de la Gran Premio
1965 Eurovision Song Chanson Européenne Eurovisione della Italian
Contest Grand Prix Canzone
1966 French
Grand Prix Eurovision de la
1967 N/A French
Chanson
1968 English
Festival de la Canción
1969 Spanish
Grand Prix de la Chanson de Eurovisión
1970–
English
1972
1973 N/A French
1974–
English
1975
1976 Eurovisie Songfestival Dutch
Eurovision Song
1977 Contest English
N/A
1978 French
Concours Eurovision de la
1979 Chanson ‫ ירושלים‬1979 ‫אירוויזיון‬ Hebrew

1980 Eurovisie Songfestival Dutch

1981– N/A English
1990
Concorso Eurovisione
1991 Italian
della Canzone
1992– N/A English

Format
The format of the contest has changed over the years, though the basic tenets have always been thus: participant countries submit new
original songs, which are performed live in a television programme transmitted across the Eurovision Network by the EBU
simultaneously to all countries.[20] A "country" as a participant is represented by one television broadcaster from that country:
typically, but not always, that country's national public broadcasting organisation. The programme is hosted by one 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.[21] At the end of the programme, the song with the most points is declared as the winner. 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
.[17]
formally invited to host the event the following year
The programme is invariably opened by one or more presenters, welcoming viewers to the show. Between the songs and the
announcement of the voting, an interval act is performed. These acts can be any form of entertainment. Interval entertainment has
included such acts as the Wombles (1974)[22] and the first international presentation ofRiverdance (1994).[23]

As national broadcasters join and leave the Eurovision feed transmitted by the EBU, the EBU/Eurovision network logo ident (not to
be confused with the song contest logo) is displayed. The accompanying theme music (used on other Eurovision broadcasts) is the
prelude to Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Te Deum.[14] Originally, the same logo was used for both the Eurovision network and the
European Broadcasting Union, however, they now have two different logos; when the ident is transmitted, it is the Eurovision
network logo that appears.

The Eurovision Song Contest Grand Finals are traditionally on a Saturday evening in May, at 19:00 UTC (15:00 EDT, 20:00
BST/IST, or 21:00 CEST). Usually one Saturday in May is chosen, although the contest has been held on a Tuesday (since the two
semi-final system was introduced in 2008), on a Thursday (in 1956; and since 2005 in the semi-finals)[24] and as early as March (in
1979).[25]

Participation
Eligible participants include primarily Active Members (as opposed to Associate Members) of the EBU. Active members are those
who are located in states that fall within theEuropean Broadcasting Area, or are member states of the Council of Europe.[26]

The European Broadcasting Area is defined by theInternational Telecommunication Union:[27]

The "European Broadcasting Area" is bounded on the west by the western boundary of Region 1, on the east by the
meridian 40° East of Greenwich and on the south by the parallel 30° North so as to include the northern part of Saudi
Arabia and that part of those countries bordering the Mediterranean within these limits. In addition, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine and those parts of the territories of Iraq, Jordan and Syrian Arab Republic lying
[a]
outside the above limits are included in the European Broadcasting Area.

The western boundary of Region 1 is defined by a line running from the North Pole along meridian 10° West of Greenwich to its
intersection with parallel 72° North; thence by great circle arc to the intersection of meridian 50° West and parallel 40° North; thence
by great circle arc to the intersection of meridian 20° West and parallel 10° South; thence along meridian 20° West to the South
Pole.[29]

Active members include broadcasting organisations, whose transmissions are often made available to at least 98% of households in
[26]
their own country which are equipped to receive such transmissions.

If an EBU Active Member wishes to participate they must fulfil conditions as laid down by the rules of the contest. A separate copy
is drafted annually. As of 2015, this included the necessity to have broadcast the previous year's programme within their country.
After Russia's withdrawal from the 2017 event in Ukraine, and Channel 1 Russia's refusal to air the event, there is some confusion as
to whether this rule still exists. C1R has announced that they intend to enter in 2018.

The broadcaster must have 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.

Eligibility to participate is not determined by geographic inclusion within the continent of Europe, despite the "Euro" in "Eurovision"
– nor does it have any relation to the European Union. Several countries geographically outside the boundaries of Europe have
competed: Israel and Cyprus in Western Asia (Cyprus is a member of the Council of Europe and a member state of the European
Union), since 1973 and 1981 respectively; Australia in the Australian continent, since 2015[30] and Morocco, in North Africa, in the
1980 competition alone. In addition, several transcontinental countries with only part of their territory in Europe have competed:
Turkey, since 1975; Russia, since 1994; Armenia, since 2006; Georgia, since 2007; and Azerbaijan, which made its first appearance
in the 2008 edition.[31]
52 countries have participated at least once.[32] These are listed here
alongside the year in which they made their début:

Year Country making its debut entry

1956 Belgium, France, Germanya,
Italy, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, Switzerland

1957 Austria, Denmark, United

Kingdom
1958 Sweden

1959 Monaco Participation since 1956:

Entered at least once
1960 Norway
Never entered, although eligible to do so
1961 Finland, Spain, Yugoslaviab Entry intended, but later withdrew
1964 Portugal Competed as a part of another country
, but
never as a sovereign country
1965 Ireland

1971 Malta

1973 Israel

1974 Greece

1975 Turkey

1980 Morocco

1981 Cyprus

1986 Iceland

1993 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,

Slovenia

1994 Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Cities that have hosted the Eurovision Song
Poland, Romania, Russia, Contest.
Slovakia

1998 Macedonia

2000 Latvia

2003 Ukraine

2004 Albania, Andorra, Belarus,

Serbia and Montenegro

2005 Bulgaria, Moldova

2006 Armenia

2007 Czech Republic, Georgia,

Montenegro, Serbia

2008 Azerbaijan, San Marino

c
 2015 Australiac

a) Before German reunification in 1990 occasionally presented as W est Germany, representing the
Federal Republic of Germany . East Germany (the German Democratic Republic) di d not compete.
b) The entries presented as being from " Yugoslavia " represented the Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia , except for the 1992 entry , which represented the Federal Republic of Y ugoslavia . This nation
dissolved in 1991/92 into five independent states: Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
and the Federal Republic of Y ugoslavia. The Federal Republic of Y ugoslavia reconstituted itself as Serbia
and Montenegro in 2003—entered the contest in 2004—and finally dissolved in 2006, making two
separate states: Serbia and Montenegro; both of which made their début in the contest in 2007, the
winner that year being Serbia.
c) The participation of Australia was intended as a one-of f event to commemorate th e 60th anniversary of
the Contest unless they won in 2015 in which case they would have been allowed to defend their crown in
2016. However it was revealed in May 2015 that Australia might become a permanent participant
following some reports by Jon Ola to the Swedish broadcaster .[33] In November 2015, the EBU
announced that Australia would return in 2016 and after this the country will become an ef fective
participant in the contest.

Hosting
Most of the expense of the contest is covered by commercial sponsors and
contributions from the other participating nations. The contest is considered to be a
unique opportunity for promoting the host country as a tourist destination. In the
summer of 2005, Ukraine abolished its normal visa requirement for visitors from the
EU to coincide with its hosting of the event.[34]

Preparations for the event start a matter of weeks after the host wins in the previous
year, and confirms to the EBU that they intend to—and have the capacity to—host
the event. A host city is chosen—often a national or regional capital city—and a Opening act in Düsseldorf in 2011
suitable concert venue is identified. The two largest concert venues were Parken in
Copenhagen (which held approximately 38,000 people when Denmark hosted in
2001[17] ) and the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf (which held approximately 36,500
people when Germany hosted in 2011). The smallest town to have been hosts was
Millstreet in County Cork, Ireland, in 1993. The village had a population of
1,500[35] —although the Green Glens Arena venue could hold up to 8,000
people.[36]

The hotel and press facilities in the vicinity are always a consideration when
choosing a host city and venue.[37] In Kiev 2005, hotel rooms were scarce as the
contest organisers asked the Ukrainian government to put a block on bookings they Eurovision Song Contest in
did not control themselves through official delegation allocations or tour packages: Copenhagen 2014
[38]
this led to many people's hotel bookings being cancelled.

Host country
After the first two contests were hosted by Switzerland and Germany, it was decided that henceforth the winning country would host
the contest the next year.[17] The winner of the 1957 Contest was the Netherlands, and Dutch television accepted the responsibility of
hosting in 1958. 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. The UK was chosen to host
because it had come second in 1959.[39]
 1963—hosted by the BBC in London when France declined due to expense. Although the UK had only come fourth
in 1962, Monaco and Luxembourg (who came second and third) had also declined. [39]

1972—hosted by the BBC inEdinburgh when Monaco was unable to provide a suitable venue:Monegasque
[39]
television invited the BBC to take over due to its previous experience.
1974—hosted by the BBC inBrighton when Luxembourg declined due to expense. The BBC was becoming known
[22]
as the host by default, if the winning country declined.
1980—hosted by the NOS in The Hague when Israel declined due to expense, having staged the1979 event in
Jerusalem, and the fact that the date chosen for the contest (19 April) was Israel's Remembrance Daythat year. The
[39]
Dutch offered to host the contest after several other broadcasters (including the BBC) were unwilling to do so.
The reluctance of those national broadcasters to stage the contest were due to already having hosted the event
during the past couple of years, in addition to the expense involved.
With the invitation of Australia to participate since 2015, it was announced that due to the logistical and financial issues that would
occur if Australia were to host,[40] in the event of an Australian victory, the broadcaster SBS will co-host the next contest in a
[41] However, this has yet to happen and since 1981,
European city in collaboration with an EBU Member Broadcaster of their choice.
all contests have been held in the country which won the previous year
.

Eurovision logo and theme

The former generic logo was introduced for the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest in
Turkey, to create a consistent visual identity. The host country's flag appears in the
heart of the generic logo. Each year of the contest, the host country creates a sub-
theme which is usually accompanied and expressed with a sub-logo and slogan. The
theme and slogan are announced by the EBU and the host country's national
Logo used in 2004–14
broadcaster.

The generic logo was revamped in 2014, ten years after the first generic logo was
created. The revamped logo was conducted by lead designer Cornelis Jacobs and his team of Cityzen Agency.[42] The logo was used
for the first time in the2015 Eurovision Song Contest, the 60th anniversary of the contest.

Slogans
Since the 2002 contest, slogans have been introduced in the show (2009 being the only exception). The slogan is decided by the host
broadcaster and based on the slogan, the theme and the visual design are developed.
 Year Host country Host city Slogan

2002 Estonia Tallinn A Modern Fairytale

2003 Latvia Riga Magical Rendezvous

2004 Turkey Istanbul Under The Same Sky

2005 Ukraine Kiev Awakening

2006 Greece Athens Feel The Rhythm!

2007 Finland Helsinki True Fantasy

2008 Serbia Belgrade Confluence of Sound

2009 Russia Moscow N/A

2010 Norway Oslo Share The Moment!

2011 Germany Düsseldorf Feel Your Heart Beat!

2012 Azerbaijan Baku Light Your Fire!

2013 Sweden Malmö We Are One

2014 Denmark Copenhagen #JoinUs

2015 Austria Vienna Building Bridges

2016 Sweden Stockholm Come Together

2017 Ukraine Kiev Celebrate Diversity

2018 Portugal Lisbon All Aboard!

Eurovision Week
The term "Eurovision Week" is used to refer to the week during which the Contest takes place.[43] As it is a live show, the Eurovision
Song Contest requires the performers to have perfected their acts in rehearsals for the programme to run smoothly. In addition to
rehearsals in their home countries, every participant is given the opportunity to rehearse on the stage in the Eurovision auditorium.
These rehearsals are held during the course of several days before the Saturday show, and consequently the delegations arrive in the
host city many days before the event. Journalists and fans are also present during the preceding days, and so the events of Eurovision
last a lot longer than a few hours of television. A number of officially accredited hotels are selected for the delegations to stay in, and
[44]
shuttle-bus services are used to transport the performers and accompanying people to and from the contest venue.

Each participating broadcaster nominates a Head of Delegation, whose job it is to co-ordinate the movements of the delegate
members, and who acts as that country's representative to the EBU in the host city.[45] Members of the delegations include
performers, lyricists, composers, official press officers and—in the years where songs were performed with a live orchestra—a
conductor. Also present if desired is a commentator: each broadcaster may supply their own commentary for their TV and/or radio
feed, to be broadcast in each country. The commentators are given dedicated commentary booths situated around the back of the
arena behind the audience.

Rehearsals and press conferences

Since 2004, the first rehearsals have commenced on the Sunday almost two weeks before the Grand Final. There are two rehearsal
periods for each country. The countries taking part in the semi-finals have their first rehearsal over four days from the first Sunday to
Wednesday. The second is from Thursday to Sunday.The countries which have already directly qualified for the Grand Final rehearse
on the Saturday and Sunday.[46]
 After each country has rehearsed,
the delegation meets with the
show's artistic director in the video
viewing room. Here, they watch the
footage of the rehearsal just
performed. At this point the Head
of Delegation may make known
any special requirements needed for
Lena, representing Germany,
the performance, and request them
Switzerland hosting a press performing Satellite during a
from the host broadcaster.
conference at Eurovision 2006. rehearsal in 2010
Following this meeting, the
delegation hold a press conference
[47] The rehearsals and press conferences are held in parallel; so one
where members of the accredited press may pose them questions.
country holds its press conference, while the next one is in the auditorium rehearsing. A printed summary of the questions and
answers which emerge from the press conferences is produced by the host press office, and distributed to journalists' pigeon-
holes.[48]

Before each of the semi-finals three dress rehearsals are held. Two rehearsals are held the day before (one in the afternoon and the
other in the evening), while the third is held on the afternoon of the live event. Since tickets to the live shows are often scarce, tickets
are also sold so the public may attend these dress rehearsals.

The same applies for the final, with two rehearsals on the Friday and the third on Saturday afternoon before the live transmission of
the grand final on Saturday evening.[47] For both semi-finals and for the final, the second dress rehearsal is also the Jury Final, this is
where the jury from each country casts their votes. This means that 50% of the result is already decided before the live contests have
taken place.[46]

Parties and Euroclub

On the Monday evening of Eurovision Week, a Mayor's Reception is traditionally held, 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.[49]

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.[50]

A Euroclub is held every night of the week: this is a Eurovision-themednightclub, to which all accredited personnel are invited.[51]

During the week many delegations have traditionally hosted their own parties in addition to the officially sponsored ones. However,
in the new millennium the trend has been for the national delegations to centralise their activity and hold their celebrations in the
Euroclub.[51]

Rules
Numerous detailed rules must be observed by the participating nations, and a new version is produced each year, for instance the
rules specify various deadlines, including the date by which all the participating broadcasters must submit the final recorded version
of their song to the EBU. The rules also cover sponsorship agreements and rights of broadcasters to re-transmit the show. The most
notable rules which affect the format and presentation of the contest have changed over the years, and are highlighted here.

Live music
All vocals must be sung live; no voices are permitted on the backing tracks.[21] In 1999, the Croatian song performed by Doris
Dragović and composed by Tonči Huljić featured sounds on their backing track which sounded suspiciously like human voices. The
Croatian delegation stated that there were no human voices, but only digitally synthesised sounds which replicated vocals. The EBU
nevertheless decided that they had broken the spirit of the rules, and docked them 33% of their points total that year for the purpose
[52]
of calculating their five-year points average for future qualification.

From 1956 until 1998, the host country was required to provide a live orchestra. Before 1973, all music had to be played by the host
orchestra. From 1973 onwards, pre-recorded, non-vocal backing tracks were permitted—although the host country was still obliged
to provide a live orchestra to give participants a choice. If a backing track was used, then all the instruments heard on the track were
[39]
required to be present on the stage. In 1997 this requirement was dropped.

In 1999 the requirement for a live orchestra was removed: it was left as an optional contribution.[53] The host that year, Israel's IBA,
decided not to use an orchestra to save expenses, and thus 1999 was the first year when all the songs were played as pre-recorded
backing tracks (in conjunction with live vocals).

Language
Each submission must have vocals; purely instrumental music has never been allowed. In the past, competitors have been required to
sing in one of their own national languages, but this rule 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, after Sweden was the first country to not sing in their own
language, with opera singerIngvar Wixell performing Sweden's 1965 entry in English.[17] The Swedish-language version of the song
was originally selected atMelodifestivalen 1965, but it was later translated into English for the Eurovision contest.

The language restriction continued until 1973, when performers were again allowed to sing in any language they wished.[54] Several
winners in the mid-1970s took advantage of this: performers from non-English-speaking countries sang 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 national selections had already taken place before the decision was made; both countries' entries that year were in
English.[55]

In 1999 the rule was changed again to allow the choice of language once more, which resulted in 12 out of 23 countries, including
United Kingdom, singing in English that year.[52] Belgium entered the 2003 contest with "Sanomi", a song sung in a constructed
language,[56] finishing in second place. In 2006 the Dutch entry, "Amambanda", was sung partly in English and partly in an artificial
language.[56] In 2008 the Belgian entry, "O Julissi", was sung in an artificial language.[56] In 2011 the Norwegian entry, "Haba
Haba", which was sung in English and Swahili, was the first song to be sung in an African language, apart from Arabic.[57] In 2016
all but three out of 36 semi-finalists had songs in English, with only two (Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia) performing songs
in their native languages, as Austria sent a song in French. In the final, all but three out of 26 contestants had songs in English.

Voting
The voting system used in the contest has changed over the years. The current system has been in place since 2016, and is a
positional voting system. Each country awards two sets of 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs: one from their professional
[58]
jury of votes of five music professionals and the other from televoting.

Historically, a country's votes were decided by an internal jury, but in 1997 five countries (Austria, Switzerland, 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,[39] and from 1998 onwards all countries were encouraged to use
televoting wherever possible. Back-up juries are still used by each country, in the event of a televoting failure. Nowadays members of
[59] From 2013, the public may also vote via amobile app.[60][61]
the public may also vote by SMS, in addition to televoting.
The current method for ranking entries, introduced in 2016, is to sum together the points calculated from the telephone vote and the
jury separately.[58] Prior to this, the jury and televoting rankings were combined 50/50 before the number of points were
calculated.[62] It was first used in the final of the2009 edition, and extended the following year to the semi-finals.[63][64]

Since 1964 the voting has been presided over by the EBU scrutineer, who is responsible for ensuring that all points are allocated
correctly and in turn. The following are the scrutineers and Executive Supervisors of the Eurovision Song Contest appointed by the
EBU:

Country Name Year(s)

Switzerland Rolf Liebermann 1956–57

Yugoslavia Miroslav Vilček 1964–65

United Kingdom Clifford Brown 1966–77

Switzerland Frank Naef 1978–92

Denmark Christian Clausen 1993–95

Christine Marchal-Ortiz 1996, 1998–2002

France
Marie-Claire Vionnet 1997
United Kingdom Sarah Yuen 2003

Sweden Svante Stockselius 2004–10

Norway Jon Ola Sand 2011–

According to one study of Eurovision voting patterns, certain countries tend to form "clusters" or "cliques" by frequently voting in
the same way.[65]

Presentation of votes
After the interval act is over, when all the points have been calculated, the
presenter(s) of the show call upon each voting country in turn to invite them to
announce the results of their vote. Prior to 1994 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. However, since and including 1994 the
announcements have been presented visually. 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. For example, the French spokesperson might be seen
standing in front of the Eiffel Tower or an Italian presenter might be seen with the Electronic scoreboard, asJohnny
Colosseum in the background. Logan announces the Irish votes in
2004
From 1957 to 1962, the participating countries were called in reverse order of the
presentation of their songs, and from 1963 to 2003, they were called in the same
order in which their songs had been presented (except for 1974). Since 2004, when semi-finals were introduced, the order of the
countries' announcements of votes has changed; and the countries that did not make it to the final each year could also vote. In 2004,
the countries were called in alphabetical order (according to their ISO codes).[66] In 2005, the votes from the non-qualifying semi-
finalists were announced first, in their running order on the Thursday night; then the finalists gave their votes in their own order of
performance. Between 2006 and 2010, a separate draw was held to determine the order in which countries would present their
votes.[67] In 2011, the voting order was determined by theresults of a jury the day before the final so as to create as much suspense as
possible when the votes were revealed.[68]
From 1971 to 1973, each country sent two jurors, who were present at the contest venue (though the juries in 1972 were locked away
in the Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle) and announced their votes as the camera was trained on them. In 1973 one of the Swiss jurors
.[39]
made a great show of presenting his votes with flamboyant gestures. This system was retired the next year

In 1956 no public votes were presented: a closed jury simply announced that Switzerland had won.[69] From 1957 to 1987, the points
were displayed on a physical scoreboard to the side of the stage. As digital graphic technology progressed, the physical scoreboards
were superseded in 1988 by an electronic representation which could be displayed on the TV screen at the will of the programme's
director.[70]

In 2006[67] the EBU decided to save 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. Since then, votes from 1 to 7 from each country have
been displayed automatically on screen and the remaining points (8, 10 and 12) are read out in ascending order by the spokesperson,
culminating with the maximum 12 points. Countries must announce the country names and points in either English or French and the
scores are repeated by the contest's presenters in the other language. For this reason, the expression douze points when the host or
[53]
spokesperson states the top score in French is popularly associated with the contest throughout the continent.

Ties for first place

In 1969, four of the sixteen countries taking part, France, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, all tied for first place with
18 points each. There was nothing in the rules to decide an outright winner, so all four were declared joint winners. This caused much
discontent among most of the other participating countries, and mass walkouts were threatened. Finland, Norway, Sweden and
Portugal did not participate in the 1970 Contest as a protest against the results of the previous year. This prompted the EBU to
introduce a tie-break rule.[71][72]

Under the current rules, in the event of more than one country scoring the same total number of points, a count is made of the
numbers of countries who awarded points to each of the tied countries, and the one who received points from the most countries is
declared the winner. If the numbers are still tied, ti is counted how many sets of maximum points (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-point scores, all the way down
the list. In the extremely unlikely event of there then still being a tie for first place, the song performed earliest in the running order is
declared the winner, unless the host country performed first in the running order. Since 2008, the same tie-break rule now applies to
ties for all places.[21]

As of 2017, 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. At that time, the rules did not include counting the numbers of countries awarding any
points to these countries' songs, but began with tallying up the numbers of 12-point scores awarded. Both France and Sweden had
received four sets of 12 points. However, because Sweden had received more sets of 10-point scores, they were declared the winners.
Had the current rule been in play, France would have won instead.[39]

Broadcasting
Each participating broadcaster is required to broadcast the show in its entirety: including all songs, recap, voting and reprise, skipping
only the interval act for advertising breaks if they wish.[21] From 1999 onwards, broadcasters who wished to do so were given the
opportunity to take more advertising breaks as short, non-essential hiatuses were introduced into the programme.[53] Three major
interruptions or preemptions of the contest broadcast have taken place since 1999. The Dutch state broadcaster pulled their broadcast
of the 2000 final to provide emergency news coverage of a major incident, the Enschede fireworks disaster.[73] Spain's RTVE
delayed their broadcast of the second semi-final in the 2009 Contest, due to the Madrid Open tennis tournament.[74] The Albanian
state broadcaster deferred their broadcast of the first semi-final in 2012 to provide emer
gency news coverage of theQafa e Vishës bus
accident.[75]

Archive status
The first edition ever of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 was broadcast live and never recorded, and only a sound recording of
the radio transmission has survived from the original broadcast.[76] The ninth edition in 1964 hosted by Danmarks Radio was
recorded on tape, but a fire destroyed the recording, and it is unknown if any other TV station in Europe has another copy.[76] Only
[76]
small portions of the original broadcast and audio from the radio transmission have survived.

In late 2011, the EBU had begun archiving all the contests since the first edition in 1956 to be finalised before the 2015 Contest, for
the 60th anniversary.[77] It was later reported that the archive is ready and will be released on the 60th anniversary with making the
content available to journalists in broadcast-ready formats while also giving public accessibility to "selected content" through the
official Eurovision website.[78]

Political recognition issues

In 1978, hosted in Paris only a month after the 1978 South Lebanon conflict, during the performance of the Israeli entry, the
Jordanian broadcaster JRTV suspended the broadcast and showed pictures of flowers. When it became apparent during the later
stages of the voting sequence that Israel's song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" was going to win the contest, JRTV abruptly ended the
transmission.[39] Afterwards, the Jordanian news media refused to acknowledge that Israel had won and announced that the winner
was Belgium (who had actually come in 2nd place).[79] In 1981 JRTV did not broadcast the voting because the name of Israel
appeared on the scoreboard.

In 2005, Lebanon intended to participate in the contest. However, Lebanese law does not allow recognition of Israel, and
consequently Lebanese broadcaster Télé Liban 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 was subsequently forced to withdraw from the competition. Their late withdrawal
incurred a fine, since they had already confirmed their participation and the deadline had passed.[80] However, the Eurovision Song
Contest albums were still being sold in Lebanese music stores until 2009, with the word Israel erased from the back cover. As of
2010, the albums were banned completely from sale.

In 2009, the song "We Don't Wanna Put In" was selected to represent Georgia. However, the song text was banned by Eurovision as it
was interpreted as criticism against Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin after the Russo-Georgian War the previous year. When
asked to change the lyrics of the song, the Georgian broadcaster GPB withdrew from the 2009 contest.[81]

Other
In the first contest in 1956, there was a recommended time limit of 3½ minutes per song. [82] In 1957, despite

.[83] Since the

protests, Italy's song was 5:09 minutes in duration. This led to a stricter time limit of 3 minutes precisely
three-minute time limit was adopted in 1960, some artists have had songs longer than three minutes, which must be
edited down to 3 minutes, though some songs exceed that time by a few seconds. Many of the entries also have
longer versions (including different languages) for commercial release, and since the 1990s, some are released in
additional remixed versions.
The EBU imposes no restrictions on the nationalities of the performers or songwriters. Individual broadcasters are,
however, permitted to impose their own restrictions at their discretion.[45] About a dozen artists have performed more
than once in the Contest representing different countries, and some of the winners weren't born in the country they
represented.
From 1957 to 1970 (in 1956 there was no restriction at all) only soloists and duos were allowed on stage. From
1963, a chorus of up to three people was permitted. Since 1971, a maximum of six performers have been permitted
on the stage.[45]
The performance and/or lyrics of a song "must not bring the Contest into disrepute". No lyrics, speeches, gestures of
a political or similar nature are permitted. No swearing or unacceptable language is allowed, neither are commercial
messages.[21]
[21]
From 1990 onwards, all people on stage must be at least 16 years of age.
No live animals.[21]
Each artist may perform for only one country per year.
The music and text must not have been published or performed before 1 September of the year before the contest is
held. Many countries also have the additional rule that the song shall never have been
performed before the relevant
[84]
national Eurovision Contest. Covers, reworked or sampled versions of older songs are not allowed.
Expansion of the contest
The number of countries participating has steadily grown over time, from seven in
1956 to over 20 in the late 1980s. In 1993, twenty-five countries participated in the
competition, including, for the first time, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia,
entering independently due to the dissolution of Yugoslavia.[85] In the most recent
edition in 2017, a total of 42 countries took part, with 26 appearing in the final.

Because 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 over-running.[53]

Participants in the Eurovision Song

Contest, coloured by decade of
Pre-selections and relegation
debut.
Since 1993, and following the cessation of the Eastern European OIRT network and
the merger with the EBU, there have been more entries than there is time to
reasonably include in a single TV show. Several relegation or qualification systems
have been tried to limit the number of countries participating in the contest at one
time. Thus the 1993 Contest introduced two new features: first, a pre-selection
competition was held in Ljubljana in which seven new countries fought for three
places in the international competition. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia,
Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia took part in Kvalifikacija za Millstreet;
and the three former Yugoslav republics, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia,
qualified for a place in the international final.[86] Also to be introduced that year was
"relegation": the lowest-placed countries in the 1993 score table were not invited in
Regular participants in 1992.
1994, to allow the countries which failed the 1993 pre-selection into the 1994
Yugoslavia is coloured in red: 1992
Contest. The 1994 Contest included—for the first time—Estonia, Romania, was the last year in which that nation
Slovakia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland and Russia.[87] participated under one name.

Relegation continued in 1994 and 1995;[88] but in 1996 a different pre-selection

system was used, in which nearly all the countries participated. Audio tapes of all
the songs were sent to juries in each of the countries some weeks before the
television show. These juries selected the songs which would be included in the
international broadcast.[89] Norway, as the host country in 1996 (having won the
previous year), automatically qualified and so did not need to go through pre-
selection.

One country which failed to qualify in the 1996 pre-selection was Germany. As one
of the largest financial contributors to the EBU, their non-participation in the contest
.[89]
brought about a funding issue, which the EBU would have to consider Regular participants in 1994.
Changes from 1992 include the
addition of Central and Eastern
European countries, and the
Big Four and Big Five separation of ex-Yugoslavian states.
Since 2000, France, Germany, Spain and United Kingdom have automatically
qualified for the final, regardless of their positions on the scoreboard in previous
contests, as they are the four biggest financial contributors to the EBU.[53] These countries became known as the "Big Four". On 31
December 2010, it was announced that Italy would compete in the Eurovision Song Contest after a fourteen-year absence and that it
would also automatically qualify for the final, joining the other four qualifiers to become the "Big Five", considered by some to be a
controversial decision.[90] Germany became the first and, as of 2017, the only "Big Five" country to win the contest since the rule
was made in 2000, when Lena Meyer-Landrut won the 2010 Contest. Turkey withdrew from the 2013 Contest with the status of the
"Big Five" being one of the reasons cited.[91] They also did not participate in the following 4 years' of contests (2014–17) for similar
reasons, as well as stating their opposition to the 50/50 jury and televoting system that began being applied in the final of the 2009
Contest.[92]

The only country in the Big 5 (since 2011) that never came last in the finals is Italy.

Qualification and semi-finals

From 1997 to 2001, countries qualified for each contest based on the average of their
points totals for their entries over the previous five years.[93][94] However, there was
much discontent voiced over this system because a country could be excluded
merely because of poor previous results, which did not take into account 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. A qualification round, known as the semi-final,
was introduced for the2004 Contest.[95] This 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 19:00 UTC on the Saturday. The highest-placed songs
from the semi-final qualified for the grand final, while the lower-placed songs were Each country's qualification rates
eliminated. From 2005 to 2007, the semi-final programme was held on the Thursday from 2004 to present.
of Eurovision Week.[96] In these two shows there was enough time to include all the
countries who wished to participate.

The ten highest-placed non-Big Four countries in the "grand final" were guaranteed a place in the following year's grand final,
without having to qualify. If, for example, Germany came in the top ten, the eleventh-placed non-Big-Four country would
automatically qualify for the next year's grand final.[45] The remaining countries—which had not automatically qualified for the
grand final—had to enter the semi-final.[45]

At the 50th annual meeting of the EBU reference group in September 2007, it was decided that, with still more nations entering,
starting from the 2008 contest onwards two semi-finals would be held,[97] from each of which one could qualify for the final.[98]
From 2008 onwards, the scoreboard position in previous years has not been relevant, and—save for the automatic qualifiers—all
participating countries have had to participate in the semi-finals, regardless of their previous year's scoreboard position. The only
countries which automatically qualify for the grand final are the host country and the Big Five: France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the
[21]
United Kingdom, who continue to enjoy their protected status.

In each of the semi-finals the voting is conducted among those countries which participate in that semi-final. With regard to the
automatic grand final qualifiers, who do not participate in the semi-finals, a draw is conducted to determine in which semi-final each
of them will be allowed to vote. In contrast, every participating country in a particular year may vote in the Saturday grand final –
whether their song qualified for the final or not.

The ten countries which receive the most votes in each semi-final qualify for the grand final. They are announced by the presenters in
English and French, in a random order. Full voting results are withheld until after the grand final, whereupon they are published on
the EBU's website.[21] To date only two countries have always qualified to the Final since the implementation of the semi-finals
system in 2004: Australia and Azerbaijan

Winners

Winning artists
There have been a number of Eurovision artists and groups whose careers were directly launched into the spotlight following their
win. Notable examples were ABBA, who won the contest for Sweden in 1974 with their song "Waterloo", and went on to become
one of the most successful pop bandsin history;[99] the French Canadian singer Céline Dion, who won the contest for Switzerland in
1988 with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi", which subsequently
helped launch her international career;[12] and the winners of the
1981 contest, Bucks Fizz for the United Kingdom with the song
"Making Your Mind Up", which also launched a successful
international career.

Other artists who have achieved varying degrees of success after

winning the contest include France Gall ("Poupée de cire, poupée de
son", Luxembourg 1965), Dana ("All Kinds of Everything", Ireland
1970), Vicky Leandros ("Après toi", Luxembourg 1972),
Brotherhood of Man ("Save Your Kisses for Me", United Kingdom
1976), and Johnny Logan (who won twice for Ireland, with "What's
Another Year" in 1980 and "Hold Me Now" in 1987).
Map showing each country's number of Eurovision
wins up to and including 2017
Several other winners were well-known artists who won the contest
mid-career after they had already established themselves, including
Katrina and the Waves, winners in 1997 with "Love Shine a Light",[100] Lulu, winner in 1969 with "Boom Bang-a-Bang", and
Sandie Shaw, winner in 1967 with "Puppet on a String". Women have dominated the contest since its inception, either performing
solo or as a member of a group on 49 of the 65 winning entries as of 2016. (Although the most recent winner was performed solo by
a man, Salvador Sobral, his sister Luisa Sobral joined him for the winner's reprise).

The most recent winner of the contest isSalvador Sobral who won the 2017 contest for Portugal. [101]

Winning countries
Ireland holds the record for the highest number of wins, having won the contest seven times—including four times in five years in
1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996. Sweden is second with six wins as of 2015. France, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom are joint third
with five wins. Next comes the Netherlands, with four victories. Three countries have won three times, Denmark, Israel and Norway.
Six countries have won twice,Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland[102] and Ukraine.

The United Kingdom holds the record for the highest number of runner-up placings, coming in second on no less than 15 occasions
as of 2017. Germany, Russia, France, Spain and Ireland have four runner-up entries. Norway holds the record for finishing in last
place in the final the most times: nine.

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. Luxembourg last entered the contest in 1993.[103]

The first years of the 21st century produced numerous first-time winners, from both "new" and long-serving countries who had
previously entered numerous times but without victories. Every year from 2001 to 2008 inclusive, a country won for its first time.
Estonia was the first post-Soviet country to win the competition in 2001. In 2003, Turkey won for the first time. In 2005, Greece won
for the first time, 15 years after the last Southern European country won, i.e. Italy in 1990; overall the South of Europe won the
competition only four times. The 2006 winner wasFinland with a song performed by a hard rock band dressed in monster constumes,
making it Finland's first win after having entered the contest for 45 years. Ukraine, on the other hand, did not have to wait so long,
winning with only their second entry in2004.

Serbia won the very first year it entered as an independent state, in 2007, with a ballad in Serbian language.[104] Interestingly, in
2004, Serbia and Montenegro also almost won the initial year it entered as a competitor state, finishing up second behind Ukraine,
also with a ballad in Serbian language.[105] Other relatively quick winners were Latvia, who won in 2002, only their third year
competing, and Azerbaijan, who won in 2011 in only their fourth year in the competition.[106]
When Portugal won in 2017, they ended a 53-year run of entering without a win. Malta now holds this record, and is also the most
[107]
successful country without a win, achieving two-second places and two third places.

In 2009, Norway won the contest with 387 points –Alexander Rybak held the winning title with his song "Fairytale". His outstanding
performance meant he had the highest total in the history of the competition, becoming the first competitor to score 300 or more
points, including 16 maximum scores. This feat was emulated in 2012, when Sweden won with 372 points, but with a new record of
18 maximum scores.[107] In 2015, Sweden won the contest with 365 points, becoming the first country to ever reach 300 points or
more twice while winning both times. Russia placed second with 303 points, becoming the first country to score more than 300
points without winning.

In 2016, the scoring system was changed, which meant that it was much easier to achieve over 300 points – in fact, the winner –
Jamala of Ukraine, achieved 534 points, and all of top 9 scored 200 or more points, and 25 of the 26 positions got their highest points
ever. This feat was then extended in 2017 when Salvador Sobral beat Ukraine's points record by 224 points, in addition to Bulgaria
beating the same score by 81 points. However, had Portugal win under the previous voting system, it would still have had the highest
total ever, with 417 points, becoming the first competitor to score 400 or more points, and would have set a new record of 20
.[108]
maximum scores, beating Norway and Sweden, respectively

Since the introduction of the 50/50 voting system in 2009, the juries and the voters have disagreed on the winner on three occasions,
in 2011, 2015, and in 2016. 2011 winner Azerbaijan won only the televotes (jury votes were won by Italy) and 2015 winner Sweden
won only the jury votes (televotes were won by Italy). In 2016, Ukraine did not win either the jury vote or the televote, but won the
contest with the highest combined vote. The televote was won by Russia and the jury vote by Australia.

Anniversaries

Songs of Europe
In 1981, a concert television programme was held to commemorate the contest's twenty-fifth anniversary. The event, entitled Songs
of Europe, took place in Mysen, Norway, featuring nearly all the winners of the contest, from 1956 to 1981. It was hosted by Rolf
Kirkvaag and Titten Tei.

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest

In 2005, the EBU had agreed with the Danish broadcaster, DR, to produce a programme to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the
contest. The show, entitled Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest after Cliff Richard's 1968 entry for the United
Kingdom, was held in Copenhagen, and featured a competition among fourteen of the most popular songs from the last 50 years of
the contest. A telephone vote was held to determine the most popular Eurovision song of all-time, which was won by the ABBA song
"Waterloo" (winner for Sweden in 1974).[109] The event was hosted by the 1997 Contest winner for the United Kingdom, Katrina
Leskanich, and Latvia's representative on its debut at the2000 Contest, Renārs Kaupers.

Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits

In 2015, the EBU had decided again to commemorate the contest and agreed with the United Kingdom's broadcaster, BBC, to
produce a show for the 60th anniversary of the contest, after evaluating several proposals from member broadcasters in regards to the
anniversary celebration beyond the 2015 Contest in May.[110][111][112] The event, entitled Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits,
took place at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London[113] and featured fifteen acts from thirteen countries in the official line-
up.[114][115] Unlike the 50th anniversary show in 2005 which was broadcast live, this event didn't feature a competition and was pre-
recorded to be televised across Europe and other EBU members on various dates schedule by the respective broadcasters. The event
was hosted by the British commentator for Eurovision,Graham Norton, and the host of the 2013 and 2016 Contest, Petra Mede.

Criticism and controversy

The contest has been the subject of criticism regarding both its musical and political content.[116][117] For example, on rare
occasions, certain countries have been booed when performing or receiving points, especially when being given by a neighbour
country. Most recently in 2014 and 2015, Russia was heavily booed when it qualified for the final and received high points.[118][119]
The reason for the booing is considered to be due to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and opposition to the country's
policy on LGBT rights.[120]

Musical style and presentation

Because the songs play to such a diverse supranational audience with contrasting musical tastes, and countries want to be able to
appeal to as many people as possible to gain votes, this has led to the music of the contest being characterised as a "mishmash of
power ballads, ethnic rhythms and bubblegum pop".[121] This well-established pattern, however, was notably broken in 2006 with
Finnish glam metal band Lordi's victory.[122] As Eurovision is a visual show, many performances attempt to attract the attention of
the voters through means other than the music, notably elaborate lighting sequences and pyrotechnics; sometimes leading to bizarre
[123]
on-stage theatrics, costumes, including the use of revealing dress.

Political and geographical voting

The contest has long been accused by some of political bias; the perception is that judges and televoters allocate points based on their
nation's relationship to the other countries, rather than the musical merits of the songs.[124] According to one study of Eurovision
voting patterns, certain countries tend to form "clusters" or "cliques" by frequently voting in the same way.[65] Another study
concludes that as of 2006, voting blocs have, on at least two occasions, crucially affected the outcome of the contest.[125] On the
other hand, others argue that certain countries allocate disproportionately high points to others because of similar musical tastes and
[126][127] and are therefore more likely to appreciate each other's music.
cultures and because they speak similar languages,

As an example, Terry Wogan, the United Kingdom's well-known presenter of Eurovision since 1980 and one of the only three
presenters mentioned by name during the contest proper[128] stood down from the BBC One's broadcast in 2008 saying "The voting
used to be about the songs. Now it's about national prejudices. We [the United Kingdom] are on our own. We had a very good song, a
[129]
very good singer, we came joint last. I don't want to be presiding over another debacle".

Another influential factor is the high proportion of expatriates and ethnic minorities living in certain countries. Although judges and
televoters cannot vote for their own country's entry
, expatriates can vote for their country of origin.

The total numbers of points to be distributed by each country are equal, irrespective of the country's population. Thus voters in
countries with larger populations have less power as individuals to influence the result of the contest than those voting in smaller
countries. For example, San Marino holds the same voting power as Russia despite the vast geographic and population differences
between them.

To try to reduce the effect of voting blocs, national juries were re-introduced alongside televoting in the final in 2009: each
contributing 50% of the vote.[130] This hybrid system was expanded in 2010 to also be implemented in the semi-finals.[131]
However, since 1994 no country has won two years in a row, and semi-finals have also been won by different countries, until 2012
when Sweden won the second semi-final in 2011 and 2012. Although many of them used to give their 12 points to the same country
each year, like Cyprus and Greece, it has been noticed that factors such as the sets of other high votes received (7, 8 or 10 points) and
the number of countries giving points to a specific entry
, also highly affect the final positions.

Running order of the participating songs

From 2013 onwards, the final and the semi-finals running order of the competing performances at the semi-finals and the final has
been decided by the show's producers and then approved by the EBU Executive Supervisor and the Reference Group. An "allocation
draw" occurs for the final and the semi-finals with each nation drawing to perform in the first or second half.[132] Prior to 2013, the
order was decided at random (though when the host nation performs is still decided at random, to ensure fairness).[132] The change in
procedure was aimed to make the show more exciting and ensure that all contestants had a chance to stand out, preventing entries that
are too similar from cancelling each other out.[133] The decision elicited mixed reactions from both fans and participating
broadcasters.[134][135][136][137] Some fans have alleged that there is a risk of corruption and that the order can be manipulated to
benefit certain countries, since the running order is considered to be of importance to the result.[138][139] Following the 2016 edition,
the only regularly contested positions in the running order that have never won the contest are numbers 2 and 16, with position
number 21 winning for the first time in 2016. Position 17 has the most victories, with 7. Positions 25, 26 and 27 haven't won either,
but there have been very few finals with that many participants.

Spin-offs
A number of spin-offs and imitators of the Eurovision Song Contest have been produced over the years, some national and other
international.

Similar competitions that are still held, include:

Östersjöfestivalen also called Baltic Song Contest (1967–present), held annually inKarlshamn, Sweden.
Cân i Gymru (1969–72, 1974–), held annually in Wales, was intended to be BBC Cymru's pre-selection show when
Wales expressed an interest in participating ni the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest separately from the rest of the
United Kingdom.
Caribbean Song Festival(1984–), held annually between members of theCaribbean Broadcasting Union.
Festivali i Këngës (1962–), held annually inTirana, Albania, has been used to select Albania's entry for the
Eurovision Song Contest since 2003.
Liet-Lávlut (2002–), an annual competition between European Ethnic minorities and languages. First held in
Friesland.
Junior Eurovision Song Contest(2003–), for European artists under the age of 14.
Asia Song Festival (2004–), held annually in South Korea.
ABU Song Festivals (2012–), two Asia-Pacific versions, the biennialABU Radio Song Festivaland the annual ABU
TV Song Festival.
Turkvision Song Contest(2013–), an annual competition that launched in December 2013, for countries and
autonomous regions that have Turkic links.[140]
Eurovision Asia Song Contest(2018–), Asian counterpart with members of theAsia-Pacific Broadcasting Union.
Similar competitions that are no longer held, include:

Sopot International Song Festival(1961–80, 1984–2003, 2005–09, 2012–14), held inSopot, Poland, annually.
Castlebar Song Contest(1966–86, 1988), held annually inCastlebar, County Mayo, Ireland.
Yamaha Music Festival, also called World Popular Song Festival(1970–87, 1989), held in Tokyo, Japan annually.
OTI Festival (1972–98, 2000), competed and hosted by Portugal, Spain and the countries of the Americas. Countries
could only sing in Spanish and Portuguese.
Intervision Song Contest(1977–80, 2008), originally held by theEastern Bloc countries of Europe and Finland. Now
held by Post-Soviet states and members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
MGP Nordic (2002, 2006–09), for artists under the age of 16 inScandinavia and Finland.
World Oriental Music Festival(2005), includes participants from Europe and Asia.
Bundesvision Song Contest(2005–15), held annually between the 16 states of Germany .

Notes
a. The European Broadcasting Areawas expanded in November 2007 by the World Radiocommunication Conference
[27][28]
(WRC-07), also to include Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

References
1. "Winners of the Eurovision Song Contest"(https://web.archive.org/web/20080528174029/http://www.ebu.ch/departm
ents/television/pdf/Winners-Palmares_56-02.pdf)(PDF). European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original (h
ttp://www.ebu.ch/departments/television/pdf/Winners-Palmares_56-02.pdf)(PDF) on 28 May 2008. Retrieved
26 December 2007.
 2. "Eurovision recognised by Guinness World Records as the largest in the world and the longest-running annual TV
music competition (international)"(http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2015/5/eurovision-recognised-by-gui
nness-world-records-as-the-longest-running-annual-tv-379520) . Guinness World Records.
3. "Live Webcast" (https://web.archive.org/web/20060525094524/http://www .eurovision.tv/english/2513.htm). European
Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original (http://www.eurovision.tv/english/2513.htm)on 25 May 2006.
Retrieved 25 May 2006.
4. "Finland wins Eurovision contest"(http://english.aljazeera.net/archive/2006/05/2008410141723346664.html)
. Al
Jazeera English. 21 May 2006. Retrieved 8 May 2007.
5. Murray, Matthew. "Eurovision Song Contest – International Music Program"(http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/E/ht
mlE/eurovisionso/eurovisionso.htm). Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved 15 July 2006.
6. "Eurovision Trivia" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2002/05_may/16/eurovision_trivia.pdf)
(PDF). BBC Online. 2002. Retrieved 18 July 2006.
7. "Eurovision Song Contest 1972"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=288). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
8. "Eurovision Song Contest 2004 Final"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=8). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
9. "Australia to return to the Eurovision Song Contest!"(https://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=australia_to_return_to
_the_eurovision_song_contest). European Broadcasting Union. 11 November 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
10. Jordan, Paul (31 October 2016)."43 countries to participate in Eurovision 2017"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/new
s?id=43_countries_to_participate_in_eurovision_2017) . eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved
31 October 2016.
11. Philip Laven (July 2002)."Webcasting and the Eurovision Song Contest" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080528091
401/http://www.ebu.ch/en/technical/trev/trev_291-editorial.html). European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the
original (http://www.ebu.ch/en/technical/trev/trev_291-editorial.html) on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2006.
12. "Serbia's "Prayer" wins Eurovision Song Contest"(https://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSSCH281
77920070514). Reuters. 14 May 2007.
13. Staff (17 May 2005). "Singing out loud and proud". Bristol Evening Post. Daily Mail and General Trust. "In the mid-
1950s, the members of the European Broadcasting Union set up an ad hoc committee to investigate ways of rallying
the countries of Europe round a light entertainment programme. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) was
formed on 12 February 1950 by 23 broadcasting organisations from Europe and the Mediterranean at a conference
in Devon, United Kingdom. It was on 6 June 1954, that Montreux became the venue for the first transmission by the
EBU's Eurovision Network of the Narcissus Festival and its flower-bedecked procession floats. At Monaco, in late
January 1955, this committee, chaired by Marcel Bezençon, director general of Swisselevision,
T came up with the
idea of creating a song contest, inspired by the very popular San Remo Festival. The idea was approved by the EBU
General Assembly in Rome on 19 October 1955, and it was decided that the first "Eurovision Grand Prix" – so
baptised, incidentally, by a British journalist –would take place in spring 1956 at Lugano, Switzerland.
"
14. Jaquin, Patrick (1 December 2004)."Eurovision's Golden Jubilee"(https://web.archive.org/web/20040811033906/htt
p://www.ebu.ch/en/union/diffusion_on_line/television/tcm_6-8971.php). European Broadcasting Union. Archived from
the original (http://www.ebu.ch/en/union/diffusion_on_line/television/tcm_6-8971.php)on 11 August 2004. Retrieved
18 July 2009.
15. "History of Eurovision" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/eurovision/2003/history). BBC Online. 2003. Archived (https://w
ww.webcitation.org/5nDiNS1hs?url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/eurovision/2003/history)from the original on 1
February 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2006.
16. Waters, George T. (Winter 1994). "Eurovision: 40 years of network development, four decades of service to
broadcasters" (https://web.archive.org/web/20060627213443/http://www .ebu.ch/en/technical/trev/trev_262-editorial.h
tml). European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original (http://www.ebu.ch/en/technical/trev/trev_262-editoria
l.html) on 27 June 2006. Retrieved 15 July 2006.
17. "Historical Milestones" (https://web.archive.org/web/20060526065558/http://www.eurovision.tv/english/611.htm).
European Broadcasting Union. 2005. Archived from the original (http://www.eurovision.tv/english/611.htm)on 26
May 2006. Retrieved 26 May 2006.
18. Thomas, Franck (1999)."Histoire 1956 à 1959" (https://web.archive.org/web/20060502192602/http://www .eurovision
-fr.net/histoire/histoire5659.php)(in French). eurovision-fr.net. Archived from the original (http://www.eurovision-fr.net/
histoire/histoire5659.php)on 2 May 2006. Retrieved 17 July 2006.
19. "The EBU Operations Department"(https://web.archive.org/web/20060717185857/http://www .ebu.ch/departments/o
perations/ops.php). European Broadcasting Union. 14 June 2005. Archived fromthe original (http://www.ebu.ch/dep
artments/operations/ops.php)on 17 July 2006. Retrieved 20 July 2006.
20. "Voting fault hits Eurovision heat"(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3712029.stm)
. BBC News. 13 May 2004.
Retrieved 2 May 2010.
21. "Rules for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009"(http://www.eurovision.tv/upload/esc2009rules.pdf) (PDF). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
22. "Eurovision Song Contest 1974"(https://web.archive.org/web/20110605061122/http://www .eurovision.tv/page/histor
y/by-year/contest?event=290). European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original (http://www.eurovision.tv/pa
ge/history/by-year/contest?event=290)on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
23. Barnes, Clive. "Riverdance Ten Years on" (http://www.riverdance.com/htm/theshow/thejourney). RiverDance.
Retrieved 27 July 2006.
24. "Eurovision Song Contest 1956"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=273). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
25. "Eurovision Song Contest 1979"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=295). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
26. "Membership conditions"(http://www.ebu.ch/en/ebu_members/admission/index.php). European Broadcasting Union.
Retrieved 3 February 2012.
27. "ITU-R Radio Regulations 2012–15"(http://www.sma.gov.jm/sites/default/files/publication_files/ITU-R_Radio_Regula
tions_2012_%202015_%20Article_5_T able%20of%20Frequencies.pdf)(PDF). International Telecommunication
Union, available from the Spectrum Management Authority of Jamaica. 2012 . Retrieved 27 May 2013.
28. "ITU-R Radio Regulations – Articles edition of 2004 (valid in 2004–07)"(http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-s/oth/02/02/S
020200001A4501PDFE.pdf)(PDF). International Telecommunication Union. 2004.
29. "Radio Regulations" (http://life.itu.int/radioclub/rr/art05.htm#Reg). International Telecommunication Union. 8
September 2005. Retrieved 18 July 2006.
30. "Australia to compete in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=australia_to_pa
rticipate_in_the_2015_eurovision_song_contest) . ""Eurovision Song Contest"". 10 February 2015.
31. "Eurovision Song Contest – Dusseldorf 2011 | News – JESC – Delegation leaders meet for Junior Eurovision 2008"
(https://web.archive.org/web/20080609225517/http://www .esctoday.com/news/read/12068?rss). Esctoday.com.
Archived from the original (http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12068?rss)on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
32. "Eurovision Song Contest: History"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history). European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved
23 November 2009.
33. Waddell, Nathan (21 May 2015)."Australia: Australia may become a solid participant, says JOS"(http://escxtra.com/
2015/05/21/australia-may-become-a-solid-participant-says-jos/)
. escXtra. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
34. Fawkes, Helen (19 May 2005)."Ukrainian hosts' high hopes for Eurovision"(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainmen
t/music/4561275.stm). BBC News Online. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
35. "General Information on Millstreet"(https://www.webcitation.org/5iLzAiOSQ?url=http://www.ria.gov.ie/filestore/publica
tions/English-CORK-_Millstreet-FINALISED.pdf)(PDF). Republic of Ireland. Archived from the original (http://www.ri
a.gov.ie/filestore/publications/English-CORK-_Millstreet-FINALISED.pdf)(PDF) on 18 July 2009. Retrieved 17 July
2009.
36. "Green Glens Arena" (http://www.millstreet.ie/green%20glens/greenglens.htm). Town of Millstreet. Retrieved 19 July
2009.
37. "Reference group meets in Moscow"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=1361). European Broadcasting Union.
12 September 2008. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
38. Marone, John. "Where Do We Put The Foreign Tourists?" (https://web.archive.org/web/20060204201731/http://www .
ukraine-observer.com/articles/208/655). The Ukrainian Observer. Archived from the original (http://www.ukraine-obse
rver.com/articles/208/655) on 4 February 2006. Retrieved 18 July 2006.
39. O'Connor, John Kennedy (2005).The Eurovision Song Contest 50 Years The Official History. London: Carlton Books
Limited. ISBN 1-84442-586-X.
40. "Germany will host Eurovision if Australia wins, says Christer Björkman (UPDATED)" (http://wiwibloggs.com/2015/0
4/22/germany-hosts-eurovision-australia-wins-christer-bjorkman/91817/) . Wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. 22 April
2015. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
41. "Australia to make Eurovision Song Contest return in 2016"(https://www3.ebu.ch/news/2015/11/australia-returns-to-
eurovision). ebu.ch. European Broadcasting Union. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
42. Siim, Jarmo. "Eurovision Song Contest logo evolves"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=eurovision_song_cont
est_logo_evolves). EBU. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
43. "Serbia in spotlight for Eurovision"(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7418045.stm)
. BBC News. 23 May 2008.
Retrieved 2 May 2010.
44. "Belgrade 2008" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080518160711/http://www
.eurovision.tv/page/news/belgrade-2008?i
d=587). European Broadcasting Union. 17 March 2008. Archived fromthe original (http://www.eurovision.tv/page/ne
ws/belgrade-2008?id=587)on 18 May 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
45. "Rules of the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest"(https://web.archive.org/web/20060210010517/http://www .eurovision.t
v/searchfiles_english/574.htm). European Broadcasting Union. 2005. Archived from the original (http://www.eurovisio
n.tv/searchfiles_english/574.htm)on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2006.
46. [1] (http://www.eurovision.tv/upload/press-downloads/2012/RehearsalSchedule2012/_press_v1.1pdf)
47. "Rehearsal Schedule" (http://www.eurovision.tv/upload/media/ESC2008_rehearsals.pdf) (PDF). European
Broadcasting Union. 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
48. "Interviews 2008" (http://www.eurovision.tv/page/interviews-2008?id=944). European Broadcasting Union. 2008.
Retrieved 21 June 2009.
49. "The grand opening reception!"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=2560). European Broadcasting Union. 11
May 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
50. "After Show Party: Reactions"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=2793). European Broadcasting Union.
Retrieved 20 June 2009.
51. "The EuroClub: Official party venue opened tis doors" (http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=2309). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
52. "Eurovision Song Contest 1999"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=314). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
53. "Rules of the 44th Eurovision Song Contest, 1999"(http://www.eurosong.net/archive/esc1999.pdf) (PDF). European
Broadcasting Union. 13 October 1998. Retrieved 18 July 2006.
54. "Eurovision Song Contest 1973"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=289). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
55. "Eurovision Song Contest 1977"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=293). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
56. Schacht, Andreas (9 March 2008)."Ishtar for Belgium to Belgrade!"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=554).
European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
57. Hondal, Victor (12 February 2011)."Norway sends Stella Mwangi to Eurovision 2011"(http://www.esctoday.com/new
s/read/16749). EscToday.com. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
58. "Biggest change to Eurovision Song Contest voting since 1975"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=biggest_cha
nge_to_eurovision_song_contest_voting_since_1975) . 18 February 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
59. "People's Daily Online – Eurovision Song Contest semi-final held in Helsinki"
(http://english.people.com.cn/200705/1
1/eng20070511_373758.html). English.people.com.cn. 11 May 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
60. "Eurovision Song Contest app launched!"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=eurovision_song_contest_app_lau
nched). Eurovision.tv. 7 May 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
61. "Download the official Eurovision app" (http://www.eurovision.tv/static/app/). Eurovision.tv. 3 November 2014.
Retrieved 3 November 2014.
62. Bakker, Sietse (11 October 2009)."Exclusive: Juries also get 50% stake in Semi-Final result!"(http://www.eurovisio
n.tv/page/news?id=4533&_t=Exclusive%3A+Juries+also+get+50%25+stake+in+Semi-Final+result!) . EBU. Retrieved
8 November 2014.
63. "Full Splitt Results" (https://web.archive.org/web/20141126111421/http://www
.eurovision.tv/page/results?event=1883
&voter=MD). European Broadcasting Union. eurovision.tv. May 2014. Archived fromthe original (http://www.eurovisi
on.tv/page/results?event=1883&voter=MD)on 26 November 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
64. "Full Splitt Results" (https://web.archive.org/web/20141111173206/http://www
.eurovision.tv/page/results?event=1893
&voter=GE). European Broadcasting Union. eurovision.tv. May 2014. Archived fromthe original (http://www.eurovisio
n.tv/page/results?event=1893&voter=GE)on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
65. Fenn, Daniel; Suleman, Omer; Efstathiou, Janet; Johnson, Neil .F(2006). "How does Europe Make Its Mind Up?
Connections, cliques, and compatibility between countries in the Eurovision Song Contest". Physica A: Statistical
Mechanics and its Applications. 360: 576–598. arXiv:physics/0505071 (https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0505071) .
doi:10.1016/j.physa.2005.06.051(https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.physa.2005.06.051) .
66. "Eurovision 2004 – Voting Briefing" (https://web.archive.org/web/20050507155415/http://www
.eurovision.tv/archive_
2004/english/1098.htm). European Broadcasting Union. 12 May 2004. Archived fromthe original (http://www.eurovisi
on.tv/archive_2004/english/1098.htm)on 7 May 2005. Retrieved 7 May 2005.
67. "Results from the draw"(https://web.archive.org/web/20060527003915/http://www .eurovision.tv/english/2038.htm).
European Broadcasting Union. 21 March 2006. Archived fromthe original (http://www.eurovision.tv/english/2038.ht
m) on 27 May 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2006.
68. "Eurovision 2011: Voting order revealed!" (http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/17435). esctoday.com. 11 May 2011.
69. "Eurovision Song Contest 1956"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=273). Eurovision.tv.
70. "A to Z of Eurovision" (https://web.archive.org/web/20060427103610/http://www .bbc.co.uk/radio2/eurovision/mymu/a
toz.shtml). BBC Online. Archived from the original (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/eurovision/mymu/atoz.shtml) on 27
April 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2006.
71. "Eurovision Song Contest 1969"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=286). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
72. "Eurovision Song Contest 1970"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=223). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
73. Bakker, Sietse (21 December 2009)."The end of a decade: Stockholm 2000"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id
=7723&_t=The+end+of+a+decade%3A+Stockholm+2000) . European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 21 December
2009.
74. Escartín, Javier (15 May 2009)."Soraya, al borde de la descalificación en Eurovisión"(http://www.abc.es/20090515/
gente-tv-radio-programacion/soraya-borde-descalificacion-eurovision-200905150219.html) (in Spanish). ABC.
Retrieved 2009-05-17.
75. "Albania to broadcast tonights semi-final deferred"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=59793&_t=albania_to_br
oadcast_tonights_semi-final_deferred). European Broadcasting Union. 22 May 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
76. "Two @Eurovision Contests are missing"(https://twitter.com/ebu_hq/status/597346588479070208). European
Broadcasting Union. 10 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
77. Siim, Jarmo (8 October 2013)."EBU starts Eurovision archive project"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=3894
3). eurovision.tv. EBU. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
78. N., Danny (4 June 2013)."General: Archive to be opened in time for 60th Anniversary"(https://web.archive.org/web/
20130611090959/http://escxtra.com/2013/06/archive-to-be-opened-in-time-for-60th-anniversary/) . escxtra.com.
escXtra. Archived fromthe original (http://escxtra.com/2013/06/archive-to-be-opened-in-time-for-60th-anniversary/)
on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
79. "Eurovision Song Contest 1978"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=294). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
80. "Lebanon withdraws from Eurovision"(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4362373.stm)
. BBC News Online. 18
March 2005. Retrieved 15 July 2006.
81. References are found in "We Don't Wanna Put In"
82. "Reglement du Grand Prix Eurovision 1956 De La Chanson Européenne" (http://www.eurovision.tv/upload/history/19
56/56_rules.pdf) (PDF). European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
83. "Eurovision Song Contest 1957"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=274). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
84. "Extracts from the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest rules"(http://www.eurovision.tv/upload/press-downloads/2012/ESC
_2012_public_version_Rules_ENG.pdf)(PDF). European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
85. "Eurovision Song Contest 1993"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=235). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
86. "Eurovision Song Contest 1993"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=235). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
87. "Eurovision Song Contest 1994"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=309). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
 88. "Eurovision Song Contest 1995"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=310). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
89. "Eurovision Song Contest 1996"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=311). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
90. Bakker, Sietse (31 December 2010)."43 nations on 2011 participants list"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=2
2833&_t=43+nations+on+2011+participants+list!). Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
91. Jiandani, Sanjay (14 December 2012)."Turkey will not go to Eurovision in Malmö"(http://www.esctoday.com/40037/t
urkey-will-not-be-in-malmo/). ESCToday. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
92. Jiandani, Sanjay (3 November 2015)."Turkey: TRT confirms non participation in Eurovision 2016"(http://esctoday.co
m/105436/turkey-trt-confirms-non-participation-in-eurovision-2016/)
. ESCToday. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
93. "Eurovision Song Contest 1997"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=312). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 26 June 2009.
94. "Eurovision Song Contest 2001"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=266). European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 26 June 2009.
95. "Eurovision Song Contest 2004 Semi-final"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=9).
European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
96. "Eurovision Song Contest 2005 Semi-final"(https://web.archive.org/web/20090518200559/http://www .eurovision.tv/p
age/history/by-year/contest?event=157). European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original (http://www.eurovi
sion.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=157)on 18 May 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
97. "Eurovision Song Contest – Two Semi-finals in 2008" (http://www.ebu.ch/CMSimages/en/PR_ESC%20Semi-Finals_
01%2E10%2E07_EN_tcm6-54154.pdf)(PDF). European Broadcasting Union. 1 October 2007. Retrieved 18 July
2009.
98. "Bubble rapt" (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/16/1084646073107.html). The Sydney Morning Herald. 17
May 2004.
99. "Opening of Sweden's ABBA museum is delayed"(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/12/DDBN
12SDVQ.DTL). The San Francisco Chronicle. 12 September 2008.
100. Gray, Sadie (19 October 2008)."Lloyd Webber agrees to try to write a winnerfor Eurovision" (https://www.independe
nt.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/lloyd-webber-agrees-to-try-to-write-a-winner-for-eurovision-966380.html)
.
The Independent. London. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
101. http://eurovisionworld.com/?eurovision=2017
102. Sharrock, David (29 May 1999)."Discord at pop's Tower of Babel" (https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/may/29/
davidsharrock). The Guardian. London: Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
103. "Eurovision Song Contest – Dusseldorf 2011 | News – 'Luxembourg never to return to the contest
' " (http://www.escto
day.com/3221/luxembourg_never_to_return_to_the_contest/). Esctoday.com. 5 September 2008. Retrieved 22 May
2011.
104. "News – Serbia wins Eurovision Song Contest"(https://web.archive.org/web/20071122210407/http://www
.b92.net/en
g/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=05&dd=13&nav_category=113&nav_id=41193) . B92. Archived from the
original (http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=05&dd=13&nav_category=113&nav_id=4
1193) on 22 November 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
105. "A Song for Europe" (https://books.google.com/books?id=Eq7nilnv93cC&pg=P
A143&lpg=PA143&dq=serbia+monten
egro+lane+moje+second&source=bl&ots=GE8LQSbGBW&sig=iAepyVj1Ikm1vB506lyfSxIOiys&hl=sr&sa=X&ei=Cbn
wVNrYFYGzUd3PgfAM&ved=0CFkQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=serbia%20montenegro%20lane%20moje%20second
&f=false). google.rs.
106. "By year" (http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/year). Eurovision.tv.
107. "History of Eurovision song contest"(http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/year). Eurovision.tv. 20 October 2014.
Retrieved 20 October 2014.
108. "An Alternate Universe: Eurovision 2017 Under the Old o
Vting System" (https://www.escxtra.com/2017/05/14/eurovis
ion-2017-old-voting/). ESCXTRA. 14 May 2017. Retrieved 2017-05-15.
109. "Abba win 'Eurovision 50th' vote"(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4366574.stm)
. BBC News Online.
23 October 2005. Retrieved 20 July 2006.
110. Borg, Luje (9 December 2013)."EBU: A pan-European survey"(http://esctoday.com/71929/ebu-pan-european-surve
y/). esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
111. "60th Anniversay: BBC Confirmed As Show Producers"(http://eurovoix.com/2015/01/29/60th-anniversay-bbc-confir
med-as-show-producers/). eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
112. "Eurovision 2015: BBC to produce 60th anniversary special"(http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/eurovision-20
15-bbc-to-produce-60th-anniversary-special-3451/)
. officialcharts.com. Official Charts Company. 29 January 2015.
Retrieved 29 January 2015.
113. Roxburgh, Gordon (3 February 2015)."Official: London to host Eurovision's 60th Anniversary Event" (http://www.eur
ovision.tv/page/news?id=official_london_to_host_eurovisions_60th_anniversary_event). eurovision.tv. European
Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
114. Freeman, Guy. "Eurovision's Greatest Hits – full line-up revealed!"(http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/eurovision/entries/8ae
dd078-e506-4242-9df3-9b8a14b03ead)(6 February 2015). bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
115. Jiandani, Sanjay (5 February 2015)."United Kingdom: 4 more Eurovision acts join the party!"(http://esctoday.com/94
879/united-kingdom-join-party/). esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
116. "Politics 'not Eurovision factor'" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/6640231.stm)
. BBC News Online. 9
May 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
117. "Malta slates Eurovision's voting"(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6654719.stm)
. BBC News Online. 14
May 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
118. "BBC News – Russia booed at Eurovision semi-final"(http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-27306108).
BBC. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
119. Wyatt, Daisy (24 May 2015)."Eurovision 2015: Russia booed despite song contest's best ef forts to put 'music over
politics' " (https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/eurovision/eurovision-2015-russia-booed-despite-song-c
ontests-best-efforts-to-put-music-over-politics-10272901.html). The Independent. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
120. "Eurovision 2014: the booing of Russia was a disgrace"(http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/culturehousedaily/2014/05/euro
vision-2014-the-booing-of-russia-was-a-disgrace/)
. Spectator Blogs.
121. Majendie, Paul (11 August 2007)."Edinburgh Fringe show celebrates Eurovision kitsch"(http://uk.reuters.com/articl
e/idUKL1142844820070814). Reuters. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
122. "Eurovision's Diamond Day"(https://web.archive.org/web/20150903222919/http://www .eurovisionaustria.com/blog/e
urovisions-diamond-day/). Archived from the original (http://www.eurovisionaustria.com/blog/eurovisions-diamond-da
y/) on 2015-09-03.
123. Paul Allatson, "'Antes cursi que sencilla’: Eurovision Song Contests and the Kitsch Drive to Euro-Unity(http://www.inf
ormaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a776540935?words=allatson&hash=267716188) ," in the Special issue on
Creolisation: Towards a Non-Eurocentric Europe, in Culture, Theory and Critique, vol. 48, no. 1 (Spring 2007): 87–
98.
124. "Eurovision votes 'farce' attack"(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/3719157.stm)
. BBC News Online. 16
May 2004. Retrieved 15 July 2006.
125. Derek Gatherer. "Comparison of Eurovision Song Contest Simulation with Actual Results Reveals Shifting Patterns
of Collusive Voting Alliances. (http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/9/2/1.html)", Journal of Artificial Societies and Social
Simulation vol. 9, no. 2. 31 March 2006. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
126. Ginsburgh, Victor and Abdul Noury. 2006. The Eurovision Song Contest Is V
oting Political or Cultural?(http://w.ecare
s.org/ecare/personal/ginsburgh/papers/153.eurovision.pdf)
127. Spierdjik, Laura; Vellekoop, Michel (18 May 2006). "Geography, Culture, and Religion: Explaining the Bias in
Eurovision Song Contest Voting" (http://doc.utwente.nl/66198/1/1794.pdf)(PDF). rug.nl. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
128. "Eurovision Song Contest 2008". Eurovision Song Contest. 24 May 2008.
129. "erry Wogan 'very doubtful' about presentingEurovision again" (http://www.nme.com/news/eurovision/38821). 28
November 2015.
130. Viniker, Barry (8 December 2008)."EBU confirms 50/50 vote for Eurovision Song Contest"(https://web.archive.org/w
eb/20081211002140/http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12655). ESCToday. Archived from the original (http://escto
day.com/news/read/12655)on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
131. Bakker, Sietse (31 December 2009)."Exclusive: 39 countries to be represented in Oslo"(http://www.eurovision.tv/pa
ge/news?id=7923&_t=Exclusive%3A+39+countries+to+be+represented+in+Oslo) . EBU. Retrieved 31 December
2009.
132. "Heads of Delegations meet in Vienna" (http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=follow_live_heads_of_delegations_
meet_in_vienna). eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
133. Siim, Jarmo (7 November 2012)."Running order Malmö 2013 to be determined by producers"(http://www.eurovisio
n.tv/page/news?id=running_order_malmoe_2013_to_be_determined_by_producers) . European Broadcasting Union.
Retrieved 9 November 2012.
134. Repo, Juha (8 November 2012)."Mixed feelings about Eurovision rule change"(http://www.esctoday.com/?
p=38497). ESCToday.com. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
135. Jiandani, Sanjay (19 November 2012)."Ireland reacts to running order rule"(http://www.esctoday.com/?p=39057).
ESCToday.com. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
136. Sanjay, Jiandani (16 November 2012)."San Marino reacts to running order rule"(http://www.esctoday.com/?p=3902
0). ESCToday.com. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
137. Jiandani, Sanjay (14 November 2012)."Moldova reacts to running order rule"(http://www.esctoday.com/?p=38649).
ESCToday.com. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
138. Gavster. "Producers To Decide Eurovision Running Order" (http://esctips.com/2012/11/07/producers-to-decide-eurov
ision-running-order/). esctips.com.
139. "eurovision 2013 running order rule change controversy"(https://eurovisiontimes.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/eurovisi
on-2013-running-order-rule-change-controversy/). Eurovisiontimes. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
140. Granger, Anthony (21 September 2013)."Turkvision a snub at Eurovision?"(http://eurovoix.com/2013/09/21/turkey-t
urkvision-a-snub-at-the-ebu/). Eurovoix.com. Retrieved 21 September 2013.

Further reading
Gambaccini, Paul et al.The Complete Eurovision Song Contest Companion
. London: Pavilion, 1998ISBN 1-86205-
167-4, 160p.
O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History
. London: Carlton, 2007ISBN 978-
1844429943, 208p.
Raykoff, Ivan and Robert D. Tobin (eds.), A Song for Europe: Popular Music and Politics in the Eurovision Song
Contest (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2007).
Yair, G (1995). "'Unite Unite Europe' The political and cultural structures of Europe as reflected in the Eurovision
Song Contest". Social Networks. 17: 147–161. doi:10.1016/0378-8733(95)00253-k.
Yair; Maman (1996). "The Persistent Structure of Hegemony in the Eurovision Song Contest".Acta Sociologica. 39:
309–325. doi:10.1177/000169939603900303.

External links
Eurovision Song Contestofficial website
Eurovision Song Contest's channelon YouTube

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eurovision_Song_Contest&oldid=817388511

"

This page was last edited on 28 December 2017, at 02:19.

Text is available under theCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of theWikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.