Welcome to I Am Your Target Demographic. Today we are talking about Eurovision and the Eurovision
Song Contest. Now, I live in the United States and I had not heard about this until I was an adult,
so if that's you, if you know nothing, that's what this video is for. We're gonna explain
what this contest is, we're gonna tell you about some winners that you probably know,
and generally catch you up to speed with the rest of the world. So let's dive in to Eurovision.
It started in 1956, when a television network called Eurovision
launched the Eurovision Song Contest, ideally to promote unity amongst countries in Europe
following World War 2. The first event was held in Switzerland, and then won by Switzerland. Now, the
precedent is set that the country that wins the competition hosts the competition the next year.
So what is the competition? Each country sends a song for competition, either a solo act, a duo,
or a group up to six people. They perform a song that is an original, under three minutes long, and
not released commercially until that year. People in all competing countries vote via the phone
and they cannot vote for their own country. There is also a ‘jury’ that can vote, consisting of both
general people and musicians. Together, the jury’s vote and the public’s vote
determines which country comes out on top. A few weeks before the grand finale, every country
competing sends a delegation to the host country, including performers, broadcasters, and more.
There’s a semi-final round where all countries compete for a spot in the finals, where only
26 countries compete. To give you context, 52 countries have competed in the contest,
including countries outside of Europe that still receive broadcasting from that channel,
so you’ll see countries like Morocco, Russia, and Israel. Australia joined in 2015, being
the first country outside the broadcasting area invited. There are six countries automatically
placed in the finals every year, which include the host country and then five of the biggest
financial supporters: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. There are two
semi-finals and 10 are chosen from each, resulting the 26 countries at the finals.
When the finals happen, these 26 countries perform their song. It has to include live
vocals and pre-recorded instruments, though they used to have a live orchestra back in the day.
Following the performances, each country has their jury call in to give their awards,
and the phoned in votes are awarded, resulting in an announcement of the winner.
So who can compete? There are some wild rules here, including that a country can offer an
artist who is not from that country. They can also sing their songs in any language they’d like.
A competitor can return for multiple years but they only compete for one country in a given year.
I mentioned earlier that 52 countries have competed, but only 27 countries have ever won
the contest. As of this recording, Ireland has the record for most wins, with seven victories.
Some winners you may recognize… In 74, ABBA won the competition and launched their international
career representing Switzerland, just like Celine Dion performed for Switzerland in 1988
and sparked her career. Julio Iglesias represented Spain but didn’t win and Australian-born Olivia
Newton-John represented the UK in 74, contributing to her musical career and many Grammy wins.
So in short, the Eurovision Song Contest is an annual international competition,
voted on by the people living in those countries, based on an original song. So hopefully this
was interesting to those of you that don’t get Eurovision but were curious. Thanks for watching!