Eurovision

Eurovision is a televised singing contest that all the countries of Europe can compete in. The closest U.S. counterpart would be American Idol. It is speculated that American Idol is fashioned off of Eurovision. Eurovision was started in the 1950s to help Europe recover from the war and to unify them again. It was inspired by the Sanremo Music Festival held in Italy. Countries from across Europe and the rest of the Mediterranian (and Australia because that is in Europe right?) are allowed to send someone to compete in the contest. The country that wins a year is asked to host the next year. Performers sing songs and then people use an app to vote. Whoever receives the most votes wins the competition. The performers often have dancers or other people on stage to make the performance more interesting. The organizers of the contest do not require you to be from the country you are representing and in fact, some performers have competed for a few different countries in different years.

The largest part of the funding is provided by the “Big 5”. These countries donate substantial amounts to the show and because of this, they are automatically qualified. The “Big 5” are France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and the UK. Their pre-qualification has caused some debates and even has Turkey not participating. However, they are not given any advantages during the event and only Germany has won the event since the Big 5 began funding the program.

Ireland currently has the record for most Eurovision wins at seven wins with Sweden right behind with six. 24 countries have never even won. The UK has come in second 15 times and sadly Norway holds the record for most last-place finishes with 11.

Some of the notable winners are ABBA who won for Sweden in 1974. Celine Dion won in 1988 for Switzerland. Many winners see large increases in their career because of their victory.

England has also hosted a lot of times because some countries do not wish to as it is very expensive to set up. They have hosted four times when other countries won.

Eurovision is huge over here and we are seeing a lot about it. Tonight is the final so tune in!