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.

Judging

Voting and Results

The winner of the contest is decided by each country assigning points (currently 1 to 8, 10 and 12) to their favourite ten entries. Until recently votes were decided by small juries in each country, but under normal conditions national telephone polls are now held during the broadcast in order to determine points assignment. Countries are not allowed to vote for themselves.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The jury voting system still exists as a reserve measure, when televoting is impractical or suffers a malfunction. In 2003 Eircom's telephone polls system ceased to operate normally, the Irish broadcaster RTÉ did not receive the votes on time and instead used a panel of judges. The Russian competitors t.A.T.u. threatened to take legal action against the RTÉ on the grounds that the votes might have allowed t.A.T.u. to win the contest and accusing RTÉ of intentionally causing an error in the televoting, to directly prevent t.A.T.u. from winning. This has been strongly denied by the broadcaster.

Related Topics:
2003 - Eircom - T.A.T.u.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The presenters of the contest connect by satellite to each country's jury in turn, inviting the spokesperson for each national jury to read out that country's votes in French or English, although French is usually only used by the countries in which it is spoken (Monaco, Belgium, France, and sometimes Switzerland). The presenters then repeat the votes in both English and French, following the formula: "Country name, number points. Nom du pays, nombre points" (but putting French first if the spokesperson is reading the points in French). For example: "Belgium, twelve points. La Belgique, douze points."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Following the 1969 contest, where four countries tied for first place (UK, Netherlands, France, and Spain), the rules were changed to resolve ties. The country with the most top votes (12 points) wins in case of a tie. This was invoked at the 1991 contest, to resolve a tie between Sweden and France.

Related Topics:
1969 - 1991

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nul points

Since each of the entrant countries casts a series of votes, it is only rarely that a song has failed to have any votes at all cast for it — under the modern rules this means that the song failed to make the top ten most popular songs in any country. This is also known as receiving nul points, from the practice of reading results in French as well as English during the broadcast.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Entries which received no points, or nul points, since the introduction of the current scoring system in 1975 are as follows:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• In 1978, Norway's "Mil etter mil" by Jahn Teigen.
• In 1981, Norway's "Aldri I Livet" by Finn Kalvik.
• In 1982, Finland's "Nuku pommiin" by Kojo.
• In 1983, two entries: Turkey's "Opera" by Cetin Alp and Short Wave and Spains "Quien Maneja Mi Barca" by Remedios Amaya.
• In 1987, Turkey's "Sarkim Sevgi Ustune" by Seyyal Taner and Locomotif.
• In 1988, Austria's "Lisa, Mona Lisa" by Wilfried.
• In 1989, Icelands "Það sem enginn sér" by Daníel Ágúst Haraldsson.
• In 1991, Austria's "Venedig Im Regen" by Thomas Forstner.
• In 1994, Lithuania's "Lopsine Mylimai" by Ovidijus Vysniauskas.
• In 1997, two entries: Norway's "San Francisco" by Tor Endresen and Portugal's "Antes do Adeus" by Célia Lawson.
• In 1998, Switzerlands "Lass ihn" by Gunvor.
• In 2003, UK's "Cry Baby" by Jemini.
• In the 2004 semi-final (a new procedure), Switzerland's entry "Celebrate", sung by Piero and the Music Stars.

Political and regional voting patterns

It has been observed that politics dictate a lot of the voting. Regional and cultural voting patterns are quite common. The votes are often, though not always, reciprocated. One of the interesting tendencies in the voting patterns is that often countries will tend to vote for others in the same region notwithstanding that they may share a recent troubled history. Countries entering the contest for the first time often score highly as well, as voters are generally sympathetic to newly forged nations.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A notable commentator of the political aspect of voting is Terry Wogan, the BBC TV presenter and long term commentator on the show. He observed that the United Kingdom's receipt of 'nul points' in 2003 reflected Europe's opposition to British involvement in the invasion of Iraq, as much as the poor quality of the song and performance. The last time the United Kingdom won the contest was just after the EU-sceptic Conservative government of John Major was heavily defeated by the more EU-friendly Tony Blair (the country had come second in both 1992 and 1993, during the Major administration, but these can, in turn, be seen as a reflection of rewarding Major's close victory in the House of Commons to ratify the Treaty of Maastricht).

Related Topics:
Terry Wogan - BBC - TV presenter - Commentator - United Kingdom - 2003 - Iraq - EU - Conservative - John Major - Tony Blair - 1992 - 1993 - House of Commons - Treaty of Maastricht

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cyprus and Greece usually give maximum points to each other, regardless of the quality of their songs. They have also been known to scarcely, if ever, award votes to Turkey. However, in a reflection of the improved state of relations in 2003, Greece awarded Turkey (the eventual victors) a number of points while Cyprus awarded Turkey eight, and in 2005 Turkey gave their twelve points to eventual winners Greece.

Related Topics:
Cyprus - Greece - 2005

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Romania awarded twelve points to Moldova during the 2005 ESC. Moldova was widely expected to reciprocate, but the Moldovan televote was ruled invalid because the number of votes cast was less than the minimum specified by EBU rules. The Moldovan standby jury was therefore pressed into service and awarded only 7 points to Romania, giving its 12 points to Latvia. Nationwide discontent in Moldova at the jury's failure to give 12 to Romania led to an investigation by ProTV Chi?in?u, under which seven of the nine members of the jury said they had not given their top score to Latvia, and five said they had given Romania maximum marks. However, EBU scrutineer Svante Stockselius has said he is satisfied there were no irregularities in the Moldovan vote.

Related Topics:
Romania - Moldova - ProTV - Chi?in?u - Svante Stockselius

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Nordic and Baltic countries tend to stick together, leading to successive victories for Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Latvia between 1999 and 2002. Denmark and Sweden got disproportionally strong votes from the entire Nordic region in 2005.

Related Topics:
Nordic - Baltic - Sweden - Denmark - Estonia - Latvia - 1999 - 2002

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When Serbia and Montenegro returned to the ESC in the 2004 and 2005 contests, both Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina gave their maximum 12 points to them. The three countries stuck together in general with regard to the lesser point options. When one adds the voting pattern of Slovenia and FYR Macedonia to the set, it is apparent that these preferences may well stem from their past union of Yugoslavia. It is also possible that the large national minorities contributed to those votes.

Related Topics:
Serbia and Montenegro - 2004 - 2005 - Croatia - Bosnia-Herzegovina - Slovenia - FYR Macedonia - Yugoslavia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ireland, although not part of a voting block, often does well as a neutral, largely English speaking country. However, a clear exception to this was in the 2004 final, when the only points received by Ireland came from the United Kingdom. In 2005, the United Kingdom received most of its points from Ireland.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The paradox of voting for a previously unamicable country pops up routinely in the voting patterns in former Yugoslavia and in Northern Europe. The ironic flipside is that the Western European states very rarely vote for others in the same region, despite the fact relations between those countries are cordial (at least in comparison). Consequently the Western European states have tended to dwell at the bottom of the voting table in recent years.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Russia also tends to get high numbers of points from former Soviet republics, though this can mostly be explained through massive numbers of Russians that moved to former Soviet Republics in Soviet times - Russians make up 29% of the population in Latvia, 26% in Estonia, 17% in Ukraine, and Belarus has mostly been culturally and lingually assimilated by Russia - who keep a certain loyalty to Russia to this day. Through the sheer number of Russians, the Russian vote will often outweigh the votes of other ethnic groups if these are less polarized (which, for example, did not happen in Estonia in 2005, when the Estonian vote was swayed towards Switzerland, represented by the Estonian group Vanilla Ninja, and this outweighed the Russian vote).

Related Topics:
Former Soviet republics - Vanilla Ninja

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Also, often immigrants in one nation will vote for the country of their origin if they have the possibility. This is a partial reason for the regularly strong votes for Turkey and countries within former Yugoslavia from Austria, Switzerland and Germany and for the usual strong vote for Estonia from Finland (though cultural closeness plays a factor here too). France, with a large Portuguese community, often awards a high score to Portugal, and Romania gets a high score from Spain thanks to the recent immigrants there.

Related Topics:
Portuguese - Romania

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The counter-argument to accusations of regional and politically prejudiced voting patterns is that it is natural for people of similar cultures within Europe, sharing common borders where the TV and radio stations of a number of countries can be received, and speaking similar languages, to enjoy similar styles of music. That said, even though voting is now done by public telephone poll rather than by jury, friendly voting does seem to persist, and with an increasing number of nations appearing each year, may even be becoming more prevalent.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The 2005 Contest

The 2005 contest saw France, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom, the four largest contributors to the EBU who automatically qualify for the final, occupying the four bottom positions of the final, each with fewer than 20 points. This could reflect negative sentiments from countries that have to qualify, or a general lack of enthusiasm from the "big four" countries, which have no prospect of failing to reach the final.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The UK received only 18 points: 8 from its neighbour Ireland, 5 from Cyprus, 4 from Malta (all countries which the UK has formerly administered) and 1 from Turkey; while many people believed the song was strong enough to deserve more. However, as viewers only vote for one song, it is highly possible that Javine lost votes to the Turkish and Greek songs which were similar in style. This theory is supported by Greece's comfortable win. In general it appeared that large western nations lost out to smaller eastern nations.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The UK tabloid "The Sun", on the Monday following the 2005 contest published an article claiming that the contest was fixed. This was based upon an investigation made by students from Oxford University, showing that over 10 years, there was a definite pattern in voting. In the contest of that year, Switzerland (which finished eighth) were leading prior to the results of many of the east European countries being announced. In fact, the only surprise was when Turkey gave 12 points to Greece, as said earlier. Some were surprised that Ukraine didn't give a high mark to Russia (and vice versa) as had been the case in 2004; however, this could be a reflection of the Orange Revolution, when Viktor Yushchenko, a pro-Europe candidate, won their presidential election, beating the pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych. In contrast to the previous contests, the Russian presenter did not refer to the Ukrainians as "our Slavic brothers" when announcing the Russian point count.

Related Topics:
The Sun - 2005 - Oxford University - 2004 - Orange Revolution - Viktor Yushchenko - Viktor Yanukovych

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hosts

Hosting the Eurovision Song Contest is an honour accorded to the winning country from the previous year — although this means that the victor's home broadcaster actually incurs heavy expenses as a result of winning and this has led to suggestions that some nations deliberately choose substandard acts so as to ensure they do not win twice in a row. In the early 1990s the Irish broadcaster RTÉ was reported to have experienced financial difficulties through having to host the contest four times in five years (this was parodied in the Father Ted episode "A Song for Europe"). The 2004 ESC was allocated a budget of some €15 million and was the most expensive edition ever. However, the contest is considered a unique showcase for launching the host country as a tourist destination, and for the summer of 2005 to coincide with its hosting of the ESC, Ukraine even abolished its normal visa requirements for tourists.

Related Topics:
RTÉ - Father Ted

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many pop singers and groups have begun the path to fame with a win at the contest. However ABBA, Céline Dion and Secret Garden are the only contest winners to have launched their careers internationally by participating in the contest.

Related Topics:
ABBA - Céline Dion - Secret Garden

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The entertainment provided by the host nation between the competitors' performances and the scoring is sometimes used as the launch of a successful career. The Irish dancing show Riverdance was first seen internationally at the 1994 contest and the Hothouse Flowers had a successful career after their interval appearance in 1988.

Related Topics:
Irish dancing - Riverdance - 1994 - Hothouse Flowers - 1988

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It is quite rare for the host country to win. It first happened in 1969, when host Spain finished in a four way tie for first place with the Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom. Spain did not host the 1970 contest (it was hosted by the Netherlands). In 1973 Anne-Marie David won for the host country Luxembourg. Luxembourg did not host the 1974 contest, which was held in the UK. In 1979 the host Israel won, after Izhar Cohen won in 1978. Israel, however, did not host the 1980 Eurovision because it was scheduled on the same day as their Day of Remembrance of their casualties of war. The Netherlands ended up hosting the 1980 contest.

Related Topics:
1969 - 1970 - 1973 - Anne-Marie David - 1974 - Izhar Cohen

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The first country to host the event twice in a row was Ireland which actually hosted the contest three times in a row, as they won the contest in 1992, 1993 and 1994 and hosted the event in 1993, 1994, and 1995. Ireland also holds the record for the most times hosting the contest, at 7 (6 times in Dublin, and once in Millstreet).

Related Topics:
1993 - 1994 - 1995

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Music

The maximum duration of each song is three minutes, and the musicians and songs selected for the contest tend towards very commercial pop, although there are exceptions. Many viewers of the contest view the event as a combination of camp entertainment and a musical train wreck (a fact played upon in the UK broadcast with the sardonic BBC commentary of Terry Wogan) and a subculture of Eurovision song contest drinking games and the like has evolved in some countries.

Related Topics:
Train wreck - Terry Wogan - Drinking game

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~