The Eurovision Song Contest is a music competition, where candidates representing the different
countries in the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) participate.
It’s one of the most important annual events in Europe’s musical scene.
Internationally, it reaches up to 200 million viewers and it currently has the Guinness
record for the oldest tv program still being broadcasted.
First of all, we should say, if you havent grown up in Europe, it makes total sense that
you’ve never heard of Eurovision.
All countries in the European Broadcasting Union can participate.
This is, european countries and arab countries boarding the Mediterranean.
Member states of the council of Europe can participate as well.
Also, with the 60th anniversary of the contest in 2015, Australia was invited to participate
as well, as a recognition for having broadcasted the event for so long.
After a very warm welcome, Australia was unanimously admited as a participant for the rest of editions.
All these countries can participate, BUT not all make it.
Right now, there are 2 semifinals taking place during the same week of the contest, where
the countries singing in the final are selected.
Almost all countries have to go through a classification process except for the known
as the Big Five - the countries that contribute the most, economically, to the EBU.
The UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.
Also, the host country also goes to the final directly.
The first event took place on May 24th 1956 in Switzerland, where only 7 countries participated,
with a jury watching the performances and scoring them.
Marcel Bezençon is the father of the contest, inspired by the San Remo Music Festival in
Italy.
It was designed as an attempt to bring countries together, promoting after WWII, national pride
through a friendly competition, and also to test the limits of broadcasting technology
in live tv.
After the semifinals we told you about, it’s 26 countries that participate in the Eurovision
gala.
Each contestant performs following a previously assigned order.
Even tho we know the songs, the staging is usually a surprise.
You can find all kinds of music genres in Eurovision, but there are strict regulations
that all countries must follow.
Participants can’t play any instruments live, they have to be previously recorded.
In the begining, all music had to be live.
In fact, until the 90s there was an órchestra on stage.
Now, all voices, choir included, have to be live.
Songs cant be more than 3 minutes long and the number of performers on stage cant be
more than 6, including singers, choir members, dancers and extras.
Children cant be on stage, and neither can animals.
Lyrics of the songs cant be related to violence, politics or religion.
For a time, each country had to sing in one of their official languages, tho since 1999
there is total freedom to choose the language, and most countries go for English.
After the performances, voting takes place.
The voting system has changed throughout the years, but it mainly consists on televoting
plus the votes of a professional jury.
From 1 to 8 points, the 10 points and THE 12 points.
All participant countries vote in the final, not only the ones classified for the gala,
and countries cannot vote for themselves.
The winning country will be the host of the next edition.
Eurovision is a show, sometimes elegant, sometimes freak, some times out of tune… there is
a little bit of everything!
It has also been the platform for artists such as Julio Iglesias, Conchita Wurst or
the swedish band ABBA, among many others.
There are lots of conspiracy theories about the votes, the winners…
Throughout history, the countries with the biggest number of victories are Ireland (7),
Sweden (6), France (5), Luxembourg (5) and the UK (5).
Spain was first on 2 occasions, with Massiel in 1968 and with Salomé in 1969.
This year, the event is taking place in Lisbon, Portugal, next Saturday 12th of May, after
Salvador Sobral’s victory in 2017.
In Spain, we are living Eurovision 2018 with renewed hope thanks to the so waited for performance
of Amaia and Alfred from OT.
We are sure they’ll do a great job!
For those of you who didnt know about this great contest, have you liked this video?
Will you watch Eurovision?
For those eurofans out there, we are sure this video is not even enough for you! but
we hope you have enjoyed it as well.
Which country do you think will win?
Leave a comment!