EUROVISION EUROVISION SONG CONTESTSONG CONTEST

INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTION

Annuan musiccompetition held amongactive members countries of EBU.

It is one of the most watched television

programmes in the world, with views between 100 million and

600 million people every year.

HISTORYHISTORY

Marcel Bezencon gave the

idea in 1955, next year,

the first contest took place in

Lugano, SwitzerlandIt was based on thefamous San Remofestival.

(Marcel Bezencon – the founder of ESC)

FORMATFORMAT

Participant countries submit

songs, which are performed live

on live television. A countrycan send only one entry.

Afterthe songs are presented,

thevoting starts. All countriesvote, except in the semi-

finals.The most voted song wins.

(Lyss Asia – the first ESC winner ever for Switzerland with the song

“Refrain”)

(Bucks Fizz – 1981 winner for United Kingdom with the song “Making Your

Mind Up”)

The contest started only with

1 night (final) but in 2004, a

semi-final has been introduced;

in 2008, 2 semi-finals have

been introduced. They take

place 2 & 4 before. The final

now usually takes place onSaturday.

PARTICIPATIONPARTICIPATION

It started with 7, now thereare 42 countries. Fifty-onecountries participated at

leastonce. Mostly, only Europeancountries can take part, butin 1980, Morocco

participatedand in 2005 Lebanon wantedto participate,

but later withdrew. However,

from this year, a new rule was

invented, which prevents non-

European countries toparticipate. Anexception was made withIsrael, because of it’s longESC history and tradition.

Countries in

greenparticipate

donce,countriesin pinkwanted toparticipate,but laterwithdrew.

SELECTIONSSELECTIONS

Countries select theirrepresentives by socalled nationalcompetitions (EMA inSlovenia, DORA inCroatia etc.) or by an

internalChoice that is made

by thebroadcaster.

RULESRULES

(In 2003, Urban Trad for Belgium, sang in an imaginary language)

LANGUAGE: From1956 – 1965 & 1996 – 1999there was a rule that said

thatevery country must sing in

it’sown language. However, in1999, that rule was

deleted,and from then on, everycountry can sing in thelanguage that itwants.

HOSTING: In 1958it was decided that from thenon, the winning country wouldhost the Contest next year.

LIVE MUSIC: All vocals must be sung live: no voices are permitted on backing tracks. From 1956 until 1998, it was necessary for the hostcountry to provide a live orchestra for the use of theparticipants. Prior to 1973, all music was required to beplayed by the host orchestra. From 1973 onwards, prerecorded backing tracks were permitted.

VOTINGVOTINGThe voting systems used inthe Contest have changedthroughout the years. Themodern system has been inplace since 1975, and is positional voting system.From 2004-2008, onlytelevoting was used.Beforethat, a mix of a

professionaljury and televoting or onlythe jury decided the

winner.(Johnny Logan announcing the 2004 Irish votes)

Countries award a set ofpoints from 1 to 8, then

10and finally 12 to other

songsin the competition — withthe favourite song beingawarded 12 points.

However,this year, a mix of

professionaljury and televoting wasintroduced.

CRITICISMSCRITICISMSThe contest has been

critisedin many different ways. Thefirst critics come from years1999-2005, when criticsproclaimed the ESC genrefor unpopular and called itmiddle-of-the-road pop.However, this well-

establishedpattern, was notably broken

in

2006, when Finland won with

a hard-rock band Lordi and

their song Hard Rock

Hallelujah.

The other criticism hasbeen the political andnational voting or theso-called “diaspora”. Thediaspora happens, because

thecountries have the sameculture, the same music orspeak a similar orthe samelanguage. Many of them,spent a while under the samecountry.

THE DIASPORASARE : - Ex-Yugoslavia (BiH,Croatia, Macedonia,Montenegro, Serbia &Slovenia)

- The Baltic States(Estonia, Latvia &Lithuania)

- Greece & Cyprus

- The Scandinavian Block(Denmark, Finland,Iceland, Norway &

Sweden)

- The Emigré Voting(Austria, Belgium, France,Germany, Israel, TheNetherlands, Switzerland

&Turkey)

- Ex-Soviet Countries(Armenia, Azerbaijan,Belarus, Georgia, Moldova,Russia & Ukraine)

Dominico Modugno, 3rd place

for Italy in 1958 with thesong Nel blu dipinto di blu.

STARS IN ESCSTARS IN ESC

Many worldwide famousstars competed in ESC,including:

Celine DionCeline Dion, victory forSwitzerland in 1988

with thesong Ne Partez Pas SansMoi.

ABBAABBA, victory for Sweden in1974, with the

songWaterloo.

Julio IglesiasJulio Iglesias, 4th place

for Spain in 1970, with

the song Gwendolyne.

t.A.T.u.t.A.T.u., 3rd place forRussia in 2003 with

thesong Ne Ver’, NeBoysia.

Vicky Leandros, Vicky Leandros, victory for

Luxembourg in 1972 with the

song Apres Toi & 4th place

in 1967 L’amour Esr Bleu.

Nana Mouskouri, 8th

place for Luxembourg in

1963 with the song A

Force De Prier.

Cliff Richard, 2nd place for

United Kingdom in 1968 with

the song Congratulations &

3rd place in 1973 with the song

Power To All Our Friends.