Eurovision Song Contest

Running since 1956, the Eurovision Song Contest (in French: Concours Eurovision de la Chanson) is an annual televised song contest with participants from numerous countries whose national television broadcasters are members of the European Broadcasting Union. The contest is broadcast on television and also radio throughout Europe. More recently, the contest has also been televised in other parts of the world and broadcast on the internet.

History

Based on the San Remo Music Festival, the first Eurovision Song Contest was the brainchild of the European Broadcasting Union. The first contest took place on May 24, 1956, when seven of the original invitees participated (the other three were disqualified for late entry). The original participants were France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Switzerland. They were joined the next year by the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Austria ("the Procrastinators"). In 1958, Sweden took part for the first time, Monaco entered for the first time in 1959. More countries came on board in a gradual trickle over subsequent decades, with for instance Israel first appearing in 1973 and Iceland in 1986. However, the definitive end of the Cold War in the early 1990s led to a sudden increase in numbers, with many former Eastern Bloc countries queuing up to compete for the first time. This process continued into the 2005 contest, in which both Bulgaria and Moldova made their debut appearance.

Related Topics:
San Remo Music Festival - European Broadcasting Union - May 24 - 1956 - France - West Germany - Italy - Netherlands - Luxembourg - Belgium - Switzerland - United Kingdom - Denmark - Austria - 1958 - Monaco - 1959 - Israel - 1973 - Iceland - 1986 - Cold War - 2005 - Bulgaria - Moldova

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Up until 2003, participation in the Eurovision Song Contest was dependent on a country having performed with a reasonable amount of success for the previous few years. A poor run of form meant that a country could be effectively suspended for a year. Because of the size of their contribution to the EBU budget, France, Germany, Spain and the UK automatically qualify regardless of how poorly their songs perform.

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The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) decided to make the Eurovision Song Contest a two day event as of 2004, dropping the previous restrictions on the number of EBU member countries that can participate. The new format calls for the 10 most successful countries from the previous year along with the four biggest budget contributors to directly qualify for the final show. The remaining countries go through a qualification round from which the 10 best advance to the 24-26 nation final show.

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