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Winning Candidates

Luxembourg "Tu te reconnaîtras" Anne-Marie

HostingSee also: List of host cities of the Eurovision Song Contest
Most of the expense of the contest is covered by commercial sponsors and 
contributions from the other participating nations. The contest is considered to 
be a unique opportunity for promoting the host country as a tourist destination. 
In the summer of 2005, Ukraine abolished its normal visa requirement for 
visitors from the EU to coincide with its hosting of the event.

Globen, Stockholm: host of Eurovision 2000. Preparations for the event start a 
matter of weeks after the host wins in the previous year, and confirms to the 
EBU that they intend to and have the capacity to host the event. 
A host city is chosen usually the capital and a suitable concert venue. 
The largest concert venue was a football stadium in Copenhagen Parken which held 
approximately 38,000 people when Denmark were the 2001 hosts. The smallest 
town to have been hosts was Millstreet in County Cork, Ireland, in 1993. The 
village had a population of 1,500 although the Green Glens Arena venue could 
hold up to 8,000 people.
The hotel and press facilities in the vicinity are always a consideration when 
choosing a host city and venue. In Kiev 2005, hotel rooms were scarce as the 
Contest organisers asked the Ukrainian government to put a block on bookings 
they did not control themselves through official delegation allocations or tour 
packages: this led to many people's hotel bookings being cancelled.
Eurovision WeekThe term "Eurovision Week" is used to refer to the week 
during which the Contest takes place. As it is a live show, the Eurovision 
Song Contest requires the performers to have perfected their acts in rehearsals 
in order for the big night to run smoothly. In addition to rehearsals in their 
home countries, every participant is given the opportunity to rehearse on the 
stage in the Eurovision auditorium. These rehearsals are held during the course 
of several days before the Saturday show, and consequently the delegations 
arrive in the host city many days before the event. This means, in turn, 
journalists and fans are also present during the preceding days, and the events 
of Eurovision last a lot longer than a few hours of television.
A number of officially accredited hotels are selected for the delegations to 
stay in, and shuttle-bus services are used to transport the performers and 
accompanying people to and from the Contest venue.
Each participating broadcaster nominates a Head of Delegation, whose job it is 
to coordinate the movements of the delegate members, and who acts as that 
country's representative to the EBU in the host city. Members of the 
delegations include performers, lyricists, composers, official press officers 
and in the years where songs were performed with a live orchestra a conductor. 
Also present if desired is a commentator: each broadcaster may supply their own 
commentary for their TV and/or radio feed, to be broadcast in each country. The 
commentators are given dedicated commentary booths situated around the back of 
the arena behind the audience.
Rehearsals and press conferences 
Estonia rehearsing at the 2006 Contest.Traditionally, delegations would arrive 
on the Sunday before the Contest, in order to be present for rehearsals starting 
on the Monday morning. However, with the introduction of the 
semi final and therefore the resulting increase in the number of countries 
taking part since 2004 the first rehearsals have commenced during the week 
before Eurovision Week. The countries taking part in the 
semi final currently rehearse over four days from the first Thursday to the 
Sunday, with two rehearsal periods allowed for each country. The countries which 
have already directly qualified for the grand final rehearse on the Monday and 
Tuesday of Eurovision Week.

Switzerland hosting a press conference at Eurovision 2006. After each country has 
rehearsed, the delegation meets with the show's artistic director in the video 
viewing room. Here, they watch the footage of the rehearsal just performed, 
discussing camera angles, lighting and choreography, in order to try to achieve 
maximum æsthetic effect on television. At this point the Head 
of Delegation may make known any special requirements needed for the 
performance, and request them from the host broadcaster. Following this meeting, 
the delegation hold a press conference where members of the accredited press may 
pose them questions. The rehearsals and press conferences are held in 
parallel; so one country holds its press conference, while the next one is in 
the auditorium rehearsing. A printed summary of the questions and answers which 
emerge from the press conferences is produced by the host press office, and 
distributed to journalists' pigeon-holes.
Before each of the semi-finals, one or more full dress rehearsals are held. 
Since tickets to the live shows are often scarce, tickets are also sold in order 
that the public may attend these dress rehearsals. Similarly, two or more full 
dress rehearsals are held after all semi-finals are finished, before the live 
transmission of the grand final on Saturday evening.

Parties and EuroclubOn the Monday evening of Eurovision Week, a Mayor's 
Reception is traditionally held, where the city administration hosts a 
celebration that Eurovision has come to their city. This is usually held in a 
grand municipally owned location in the city centre. All delegations are 
invited, and the party is usually accompanied by live music, complimentary food 
and drink and in recent years fireworks.
After the semi-final and grand final there are after-show parties, held either 
in a facility in the venue complex or in another suitable location within the 
city.
A Euroclub is held every night of the week; a Eurovision-themed nightclub, to 
which all accredited personnel are invited.
During the week many delegations have traditionally hosted their own parties in 
addition to the officially-sponsored ones. However, in the new millennium the 
trend has been for the national delegations to centralise their activity and 
hold their celebrations in the Euroclub.
VotingFurther information: Voting at the Eurovision Song Contest
The voting systems used in the Contest have changed throughout the years. The 
modern system has been in place since 1975, and is a positional voting system. 
Countries award a set of points from 1 to 8, then 10 and finally 12 to other 
songs in the competition  with the favourite song being awarded 12 points.
Historically, a country's set of votes was decided by an internal jury, but in 
1997 five countries (Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden and the United 
Kingdom) experimented with televoting, giving members of the public in those 
countries the opportunity to vote en-masse for their favourite songs. The 
experiment was a success, and from 1998 onwards all countries were 
encouraged to use televoting wherever possible. Back-up juries are still 
utilised by each country, in the event of the televoting failure. Nowadays 
members of the public may also vote by SMS, in addition to televoting.
Presentation of votes 
Electronic scoreboard, as Johnny Logan announces the Irish votes in 2004.After 
the interval act is over, when all the points have been calculated, the 
presenter(s) of the show call upon each voting country in turn to invite them to 
announce the results of their vote. Prior to 1994 the announcements were made 
over telephone lines; with the audio being piped into the auditorium for the 
audience to hear, and over the television transmission. With the advent of more 
reliable satellite networks, from 1994 onwards voting spokespeople have appeared 
on camera from their respective countries to read out the votes. 
Often the opportunity is taken by each country to show their 
spokesperson standing in front of a backdrop which includes a famous place in 
that country.
Votes are read out in ascending order, culminating with the maximum 12 points. 
The scores are repeated by the Contest's presenters in English and French, which 
has given rise to the famous "douze points" exclamation when the host repeats 
the top score in French.
From 1957 to 1962, the participating countries were called in reverse order of 
the presentation of their songs, and from 1963 to 2003, each country was called 
in the same order in which their song had been presented. Since 2004, the order 
of the countries' announcements of votes has changed since the inception of the 
semi final, and the countries that did not make it to the final each year could 
also vote. In 2004, the countries were called in alphabetical order (according 
to their ISO codes). In 2005, the votes from the non-qualifying 
semi-finalists were announced first, in their running order on the Thursday 
night; then the finalists gave their votes in their own order of performance. 
Since 2006, a separate draw has been held to determine the order in which 
countries would present their votes.
From 1971 to 1973, each country sent two jurors, who were actually present at 
the Contest venue (though the juries in 1972 were locked away in the Great Hall 
of Edinburgh Castle) and announced their votes as the camera was trained on 
them. In 1973 one of the Swiss jurors made a great show of presenting his votes 
with flamboyant gestures. This system was retired for the next year.
In 1956 no public votes were presented: a closed jury simply announced that 
Switzerland had won. From 1957 to 1987, the points were 
displayed on a physical scoreboard to the side of the stage. As digital graphic 
technology progressed, the physical scoreboards were superseded in 1988 by an 
electronic representation which could be displayed on the TV screen at the will 
of the programme's director.
In 2006, the EBU decided to conserve time during the broadcast much of which had 
been taken up with the announcement of every single point because there was an 
ever increasing number of countries voting. From then onwards, the points from 
1–7 were flashed up onto the screen automatically, and the announcers only read 
out the 8, 10 and 12 points individually.
The voting is presided over by the EBU scrutineer, who is responsible for 
ensuring that all points are allocated correctly and in turn. The scrutineer is 
notified in advance of the results of the last five countries in the 
running-order of voting, to ensure that no foul play can take place in the form 
of tactical voting; where for example a country could change its votes after 
seeing how the trend has gone before them on the scoreboard.
Ties for first placeIn 1969, a tie-break system had not yet been 
conceived, and four countries all tied for first place based on their total 
numbers of points: France, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Since 
there was no predetermined set of rules to decide the winner, all four countries 
were declared as winners. This caused much discontent among most of the 
non winning countries, and mass-walkouts were threatened. Finland, Norway, 
Sweden and Portugal did not participate in the 1970 Contest as a protest against 
the results of the previous year. This prompted the EBU to introduce a tie-break 
rule.
In the event of a tie for first place at the end of the evening, a count is made 
of the total number of countries who awarded any points at all to each of the 
tied countries; and the one who received points from the most countries is 
declared the winner. If the numbers are still tied, it is counted how many sets 
of maximum marks (12 points) each country received. If there is still a tie, the 
numbers of 10-point scores awarded are compared and then the numbers of 
8-points, all the way down the list. In the extremely unlikely event of there 
then still being a tie for first place, the song performed earliest in the 
running order is declared the winner, unless the host country performed first in 
the running order. The same tie-break rule now applies to ties for all 
places.
As of 2011, the only time since 1969 when two or more countries have tied for 
first place on total points alone was in 1991, when France and Sweden both 
totalled 146 points. In 1991 the tie break rules did not include counting the 
numbers of countries awarding any points at all to these countries, but began 
with tallying up the numbers of 12 points awarded. Both France and Sweden had 
received four sets of 12 points. However, because Sweden had received more sets 
of 10 points, they were declared the winners. Had the current rule been in play, 
France would have won instead.
RulesFurther information: Rules of the Eurovision Song Contest
There are a number of rules which must be observed by the participating nations. 
The rules are numerous and unabridged, and a separate draft is produced each 
year, which explicitly specifies the dates by which certain things must be done; 
for example the deadline by which all the participating broadcasters must submit 
the final recorded version of their song to the EBU. Many rules pertain to such 
matters as sponsorship agreements and rights of broadcasters to re-transmit the 
show within a certain time. The most notable rules which actually affect the 
format and presentation of the Contest have changed somewhat over the years, and 
are highlighted here.
HostingIn 1958 it was decided that from then on, the winning country 
(France, at the time) would host the Contest the next year. The winner of 
the 1957 Contest was the Netherlands, and Dutch television accepted the 
responsibility of hosting in 1958. In all but five of the years since this rule 
has been in place, the winning country has hosted the show the following year. 
The exceptions are:
1960 hosted by the BBC in London when the Netherlands declined due to expense. 
The UK was chosen to host because it had come second in 1959.
1963 hosted by the BBC in London when France declined due to expense. Although 
the UK had only come fourth in 1962, Monaco and Luxembourg (who came second 
and third) had also declined.
1972 hosted by the BBC in Edinburgh when Monaco was unable to provide a 
suitable venue: Monegasque television invited the BBC to take over due to its 
previous experience.
1974 hosted by the BBC in Brighton when Luxembourg declined due to expense. 
The BBC was becoming known as the host by default, if the winning country 
declined.
1980 hosted by NOS in The Hague when the Israel Broadcasting Authority 
declined due to expense, and the fact that the date chosen for the Contest (19 
April) was Israel's Remembrance Day that year. The Dutch offered to host the 
Contest after several other broadcasters (including the BBC) were unwilling to 
do so.
The declinations due to expense were due to those broadcasters' already having 
hosted the Contest during the past couple of years. Since 1981, all Contests 
have been held in the country which won the previous year.
Live musicAll vocals must be sung live: no voices are permitted on 
backing tracks. In 1999, the Croatian song featured sounds on their backing 
track which sounded suspiciously like human voices. The Croatian delegation 
stated that there were no human voices, but only digitally synthesised sounds 
which replicated vocals. The EBU nevertheless decided that they had broken the 
spirit of the rules, and docked them 33% of their points total that year as used 
for calculating their five-year points average for future qualification.
From 1956 until 1998, it was necessary for the host country to provide a live 
orchestra for the use of the participants. Prior to 1973, all music was required 
to be played by the host orchestra. From 1973 onwards, pre recorded backing 
tracks were permitted although the host country was still obliged to provide a 
live orchestra in order to give participants a choice. If a backing track was 
used, then all the instruments heard on the track were required to be present on 
the stage. In 1997 this requirement was dropped.
In 1999 the rules were amended to abolish the requirement by the host 
broadcaster to provide a live orchestra, leaving it as an optional 
contribution. The host that year, Israel's IBA, decided not to use an 
orchestra in order to save on expenses, and 1999 became the first year in which 
all of the songs were played as pre-recorded backing tracks (in conjunction with 
live vocals). The orchestra has not since made an appearance at the Contest; the 
last time being in 1998 when the BBC hosted the show in Birmingham.

LanguageMain article: Language in the Eurovision Song Contest
The rule requiring countries to sing in their own national language has been 
changed several times over the years. From 1956 until 1965, there was no rule 
restricting the languages in which the songs could be sung. In 1966 a rule was 
imposed stating that the songs must be performed in one of the official 
languages of the country participating, after Sweden presented its 1965 entry in 
English.
The language restriction continued until 1973, when it was lifted and performers 
were again allowed to sing in any language they wished. Several winners in 
the mid 1970s took advantage of the newly found allowance, with performers from 
non-English-speaking countries singing in English, including ABBA in 1974.
In 1977, the EBU decided to revert to the national language restriction. Special 
dispensation was given to Germany and Belgium as their national selections had 
already taken place - both countries' entries were in English.
In 1999 the rule was changed to allow the choice of language once more. With 
this linguistic allowance the Belgian entry in 2003, "Sanomi", was sung in an 
artificial language. In 2006 the Dutch entry, "Amambanda", was sung partly 
in English and partly in an artificial language. In 2008 the Belgian entry, 
"O Julissi", was sung in an artificial language. In 2011 the Norwegian 
entry, "Haba Haba" ,which was sung in Swahili, was the first song to be sung in 
an African language.
BroadcastingEach participating broadcaster is required to broadcast the 
show in its entirety: including all songs, recap, voting and reprise, skipping 
only the interval act for advertising breaks if they wish. From 1999 
onwards, broadcasters who wished to do so were given the opportunity to take 
more advertising breaks as short, non-essential hiatuses were introduced into 
the programme. The Dutch state broadcaster pulled their broadcast of the 
2000 final to provide emergency news coverage of a major incident, the Enschede 
fireworks disaster. This was technically a violation of the rule, but was done 
out of necessity.
Political recognition issuesIn 1978, during the performance of the 
Israeli entry, the Jordanian broadcaster JRTV suspended the broadcast and showed 
pictures of flowers. When it became apparent during the later stages of the 
voting sequence that Israel was going to win the Contest, JRTV abruptly ended 
the transmission. Afterwards, the Jordanian news media refused to 
acknowledge the fact that Israel had won and announced that the winner was 
Belgium (which had actually come 2nd). In 1981 JRTV did not broadcast the 
voting because the name of Israel appeared on the scoreboard.
In 2005, Lebanon intended to participate in the Contest. However, Lebanese law 
does not allow recognition of Israel, and consequently Lebanese television did 
not intend to transmit the Israeli entry. The EBU informed them that such an act 
would breach the rules of the Contest, and Lebanon was subsequently forced to 
withdraw from the competition. Their late withdrawal incurred a fine, since they 
had already confirmed their participation and the deadline had passed.
OtherIn the first Contest in 1956, there was a recommended time limit 
of 3½ minutes per song. In 1957, despite protests, the Italian song was 
5:09 minutes in duration. This led to a stricter time limit of 3 minutes 
precisely.
There is no restriction imposed by the EBU on the nationality of the 
performers or songwriters. Individual broadcasters are, however, permitted to 
impose their own restrictions at their discretion.
From 1957 to 1970 (in 1956 there was no restriction at all), only soloists and 
duos were allowed on stage. From 1963, a chorus of up to three people was 
permitted. Since 1971, a maximum of six performers have been permitted on the 
stage.
The performance and/or lyrics of a song "must not bring the Contest into 
disrepute".
Since 1990, all people on stage must be at least 16 years of age.
Expansion of the ContestFurther information: Participation in the 
Eurovision Song Contest.

Regular participants in 1992. Yugoslavia is coloured in red: 1991 was the last 
year in which that nation participated under one name. 
Regular participants in 1994. The addition of Central and Eastern European 
countries, and the separate ex-Yugoslavian states, makes a stark change from the 
participation map of 1992.The number of countries participating each year has 
steadily grown over the course of the years, from seven participants in 1956 to 
over 20 in the late 1980s. In 1993 there were 25 countries participating in the 
competition, including, for the first time that year, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
Croatia and Slovenia, entering independently due to the dissolution of 
Yugoslavia.
Because the Contest is a live television programme, a reasonable time limit must 
be imposed on the duration of the show. In recent years the nominal limit has 
been three hours, with the broadcast occasionally overrunning.
Pre-selections and relegationSince 1993, there have been more countries 
wishing to enter the Contest than there is time to reasonably include all their 
entries in a single TV show. Several relegation or qualification systems have, 
therefore, been tried in order to limit the number of countries participating in 
the competition in any given year. The 1993 Contest introduced two new features: 
firstly, a pre selection competition was held in Ljubljana in which seven new 
countries fought for three places in the international competition. Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia took part 
in Kvalifikacija za Millstreet; and the three former Yugoslav republics, Bosnia 
and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia, qualified for a place in the 
international final. Also to be introduced that year was relegation. The 
lowest placed countries in the 1993 score table were forced to skip the next 
year, in order to allow the countries which failed the 1993 pre selection into 
the 1994 Contest. The 1994 Contest included also for the first time Lithuania, 
Poland and Russia.
Relegation continued through 1994 and 1995; but in 1996 a different 
pre-selection system was used, in which nearly all the countries participated. 
Audio tapes of all the songs were sent to juries in each of the countries some 
weeks before the television show. These juries selected the songs which would 
then proceed to be included in the international broadcast. Norway, as the 
host country in 1996 (having won the 1995 Contest), automatically qualified and 
was therefore excluded from the necessity of going through the 
pre-selection.
One country which failed to qualify in the 1996 pre selection was Germany. As 
one of the largest financial contributors to the EBU, their non participation in 
the Contest brought about a funding issue, which the EBU would have to 
consider.
Big Four/FiveSince 2000, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Spain 
have automatically qualified for the Eurovision final, regardless of their 
positions on the scoreboard in previous Contests. They earned this special 
status by being the four biggest financial contributors to the EBU (without 
which the production of the Eurovision Song Contest would not be possible). Due 
to their untouchable status, these countries became known as the "Big Four".
On 31 December 2010; it was announced on the official participation list 
published by the EBU that Italy would automatically qualify into the final, thus 
joining the other qualifiers to become the "Big Five". Germany became the 
first "Big Four" country to win the Contest since the rule was made in 2000, 
when Lena Meyer-Landrut won the 2010 Contest.
QualificationFrom 1997 to 2001, countries qualified for each Contest 
based on the average of their points totals for their entries over the previous 
five years. However, there was much discontent voiced over this system 
because a country could be punished by not being allowed to enter merely because 
of poor previous results, which did not take into account how good a fresh 
attempt might be. This led the EBU to create what was hoped would be a more 
permanent solution to the problem, which was to have two shows every year: a 
qualification round, and the grand final. In these two shows there would be 
enough broadcast time to include all the countries which wished to participate, 
every year. The qualification round became known as the Eurovision Semi Final. 
In 2008 due to the number of nations entering, it changed very slightly as two 
separate semi finals were created, once going from the first semi a nation would 
enter straight into the final as would those progressing from the second 
semi.
Semi finals A qualification round, known as the semi-final, was introduced 
for the 2004 Contest. This semi-final was held on the Wednesday during 
Eurovision Week, and was a programme similar in format to the grand final, whose 
time slot remained 19:00 UTC on the Saturday. The highest placed songs from the 
semi final would qualify for the grand final, while the lower placed songs were 
out of the competition for that year. From 2005 – 2007, the semi-final programme 
was held on the Thursday of Eurovision Week.
The ten most highly-placed non Big Four countries in the grand final were 
guaranteed a place in the following year's grand final, without the need to 
participate in next year's semi. If, for example, Germany came in the top ten, 
the eleventh placed non Big Four country would automatically qualify for the 
next year's grand final. The remaining countries which had not automatically 
qualified for the grand final had to enter the semi.
At the 50th annual meeting of the EBU reference group in September 2007, it was 
decided that from the 2008 Contest onwards there would be held two 
semi finals. From 2008 onwards, the scoreboard position of any previous 
years has not been relevant, and save for the automatic qualifiers all 
participating countries have had to participate in the semi finals, regardless 
of their previous year's scoreboard position. The only countries which 
automatically qualify for the grand final are the host country, and the Big 
Five: France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, who continue to 
enjoy their protected status.
In each of the semi-finals the voting is conducted among those countries which 
participate in that semi-final in question. With regards to the automatic grand 
final qualifiers, which do not participate in the semi-finals, a draw is 
conducted to determine in which semi final each of them will be allowed to vote. 
In contrast, every participating country in a particular year may vote in the 
Saturday grand final — whether their song qualified from the semi or not.
After the votes have been cast in each semi final, the countries which received 
the most votes and will therefore proceed to the grand final on Saturday are 
announced by name by the presenters. Full voting results are withheld until 
after the grand final, whereupon they are published on the EBU's website.
WinnersFurther information: List of Eurovision Song Contest winners
Winning the Eurovision Song Contest provides a unique opportunity for the 
winning artist(s) to capitalise on the surrounding publicity to further his, her 
or their career(s).
ArtistsThe most notable winning Eurovision artist whose career was 
directly launched into the spotlight following their win was ABBA, who won the 
Contest for Sweden in 1974 with their song "Waterloo". ABBA went on to become 
one of the most successful bands of all time.
Another notable winner who subsequently achieved international fame and success 
was French Canadian singer, Céline Dion, who won the Contest for Switzerland in 
1988 with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi", which subsequently helped launch 
her international career.
Other artists who have achieved varying degrees of success after winning the 
Contest include France Gall ("Poupée de cire, poupée de son", Luxembourg 1965), 
Dana ("All Kinds of Everything", Ireland 1970), Vicky Leandros ("Après toi", 
Luxembourg 1972), Brotherhood of Man ("Save Your Kisses for Me", United Kingdom 
1976), Marie Myriam ("L'oiseau et l'enfant", France 1977), Johnny Logan (who won 
twice for Ireland; with "What's Another Year?" in 1980, and "Hold Me Now" in 
1987), Bucks Fizz ("Making Your Mind Up", United Kingdom 1981), Nicole ("Ein 
Bißchen Frieden", Germany 1982), and Herreys ("Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley", Sweden 
1984). Many other winners include well-known artists who won the Contest 
mid career, after they had already established themselves as successful. An 
example is Katrina and the Waves, representing the United Kingdom, who were the 
winners of the contest with the song, Love Shine a Light.
Some artists, however, have vanished into relative obscurity, making little or 
no impact on the international music scene after their win.
Countries 
Map showing each country's number of Eurovision wins up to and including 
2010.Ireland holds the record for the most number of wins, having won the 
Contest seven times including three times in a row in 1992, 1993 and 1994. 
France, Luxembourg and United Kingdom are joint second with five wins.
The early years of the Contest saw many wins for "traditional" Eurovision 
countries: France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. However, the success of these 
countries has declined in recent decades: the Netherlands last won in 1975; 
France in 1977; and Luxembourg in 1983. The last time Luxembourg entered the 
Contest was in 1993.
The first years of the 21st century produced a spate of first-time winners, from 
both "new" Eurovision countries, and old-timers who had entered for many years 
without a win. Every year from 2001 to 2008 resulted in a country winning for 
the first time. The 2006 winner was Finland, which finally won after having 
entered the Contest for 45 years. Ukraine on the other hand did not have to wait 
so long, winning with their second entry in 2004. Serbia won the very first year 
it entered as an independent state, in 2007.
Criticisms and controversy A concern has been raised that this 
article's Criticism section may be compromising the article's neutral 
point of view of the subject. Possible resolutions may be to integrate the 
material in the section into the article as a whole, or to rewrite the 
contents of the section. Please see the discussion on the talk page. 
(August 2009)

The Contest has been the subject of criticism regarding both its musical content 
and the perception that it is more about politics than it is about 
music.
Musical style and presentationBecause the musical songs are playing to 
such a diverse international audience with contrasting musical tastes, and that 
countries want to be able to appeal to as many people as possible to gain votes, 
the majority of the songs have historically been middle of the road pop. 
Deviations from this formula have rarely achieved success, leading to the 
Contest gaining a reputation for its music being "bubblegum pop". This 
well established pattern, however, was notably broken in 2006 with Finnish hard 
rock band Lordi's landslide victory. As Eurovision is a visual show, many 
performances attempt to attract the attention of the voters through means other 
than the music, sometimes leading to bizarre on stage theatrics and costumes, 
including the use of revealing dress.
Political and national votingThe Contest has long been accused of 
political bias, where the perception is that judges and now televoters allocate 
points based on their nation's relationship to the other countries, rather than 
the musical merits of the songs. According to one study of Eurovision voting 
patterns, certain countries tend to form "clusters" or "cliques" by frequently 
voting in the same way. On the other hand, however, scholars argue that 
certain countries allocate disproportionately high points to others because of 
similar musical tastes, cultures and because they speak similar 
languages, and are therefore more likely to appreciate each other's 
music; for example, the explanation for Greece and Cyprus' routine exchange of 
12 points in every possible occasion since popular voting was introduced in 1998 
is because those countries share the same music industry and language, and 
artists who are popular in one country are popular in the other.
Another influential factor is the high proportion of expatriates, ethnic 
minorities and diaspora living in certain countries, often due to recent 
political upheaval. Although judges and televoters cannot vote for their own 
country's entry, expatriates and diaspora can vote for their country of origin 
from their current location.
Since the number of points to be distributed allotted to each country remains 
equal, and independent of their population, voters in countries with larger 
populations have less power as individuals to influence the result of the 
Contest than those voting from countries with smaller populations.
In a move to help reduce the effects of voting blocs since the advent of 
televoting in the Eurovision Song Contest, the 2009 edition re-introduced 
national juries alongside televoting in the final, both contributing to 50% of 
the vote. This hybrid system was implemented in semi-finals for 2010.
Spin-offsA number of spin-offs and imitators of the Eurovision Song 
Contest have been produced over the years:
Junior Eurovision Song Contest held annually since 2003, for artists under the 
age of 16.
MGP Nordic Nordic contest similar to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
Our Sound Asia Pacific version.
Bundesvision Song Contest held annually between the 16 states of Germany since 
2005.
Sopot International Song Festival held in Sopot, Poland, annually since 1961.
Intervision Song Contest held by the Eastern bloc countries between 1977 and 
1980.
OTI Festival held by Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries between 1972 
and 1998 and 2000.
Yamaha Music Festival, celebrated in Tokyo between 1970 and 1988.
World Oriental Music Festival first held in Sarajevo in 2005; includes 
participants from Europe and Asia.
Baltic Song Contest held annually in Karlshamn, Sweden.
Castlebar Song Contest held annually in Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland 
between 1966 and 1989.
In Autumn 2005, the EBU organised a special programme to celebrate the 50th 
anniversary of the Contest. The show, entitled Congratulations (after Cliff 
Richard's entry for the United Kingdom in 1968) was held in Copenhagen, and 
featured many artists from the last 50 years of the Contest. A telephone vote 
was held to determine the most popular Eurovision song of all-time, which was 
won by ABBA's "Waterloo" (winner, Sweden 1974).

European Song Contest

Actes notables et incidents
Concours Eurovision de la chanson 1964 à Copenhague, après le passage de la chanson française et durant la présentation de la chanson suivante, un individu perturbe le concours en manifestant contre la participation du Portugal au concours. Le service d'ordre est immédiatement intervenu pour ramener le calme et permettre de reprendre le déroulement normal de la cérémonie.
Concours Eurovision de la chanson 1967 : cafouillage dans le tableau pour le comptage des points (problème informatique). De plus, le jury irlandais a failli oublier de donner ses points.
En 1969, pour la 1re fois dans l'histoire du concours 4 pays (Royaume-Uni, France, Espagne et Pays-Bas) sont déclarés vainqueurs ex-aequo. L'année suivante le concours se déroule au Pays-Bas (ville attribuée par tirage au sort).
La France n'a pas participé à l'édition 1974 (qui vit la consécration d'ABBA avec leur tube Waterloo) en raison du deuil national et des obsèques du Président de la République Georges Pompidou ayant lieu le même jour que le Concours. C'est la chanteuse Dani qui devait représenter la France avec le titre La Vie à 25 ans. N'ayant pu participer au Concours 1974, Dani devait participer au concours en 1975 avec la chanson Comme un boomerang, mais on le lui refuse : certaines phrases de la chanson étant jugées choquantes pour l'époque. Dani n'a donc jamais chanté à l'Eurovision. En 2002, Dani réenregistre ce titre qu'elle chante en duo avec Étienne Daho, et le commercialise. Elle connaîtra un franc succès.
En 1977, à Londres (Royaume-Uni), après l'annonce de sa victoire, Marie Myriam doit se diriger vers la scène pour la présentation du prix, mais tarde à venir. En quittant la green room, Marie se retrouve face à un cadreur de la BBC qui a chuté et bloque le passage. Marie Myriam se voit dans l'obligation d'aider l'homme à se relever afin de pouvoir passer.
En 1982, la France ne participe pas au Concours, ce qui provoque un tollé. La nouvelle direction de TF1 et notamment Pierre Bouteiller ne souhaitait pas participer à ce Concours qu'elle n'appréciait pas et qui lui semblait trop couteux. Antenne 2 dût reprendre la participation de la France et la diffusion du Concours l'année suivante.
En 1985, à Göteborg (Suède), la présentatrice Lill Lindfors revient sur scène pour l'annonce des votes, après l'intermède et perd sa robe en plein direct. Coutumière du fait, il s'agissait d'un gag qui n'aurait pas été apprécié par les responsables du Concours.
En 1990, en direct de Zagreb, l'Espagne passe en 1re position, représentée par le groupe Azúcar Moreno qui chante Bandido. Les deux chanteuses (qui sont sœurs) et les musiciens sont sur la scène. La bande-son démarre, mais les sœurs Moreno n'ont pas de retour et ne chantent pas. Stupéfaites, elles retournent en coulisses chercher des explications, tandis que la musique continue et le reste du groupe tente de faire bonne figure en mimant du playback. Quelques instants plus tard, les chanteuses reviennent et entament normalement leur performance. Elle se classeront 5e sur 22. Dès le début de la cérémonie, le commentateur français (pour Antenne 2) Richard Adaridi annonce qu'il a un mauvais retour et que le son n'est pas très bon. D'autre part, la RAI (chaîne nationale de télévision italienne) qui retransmettait le concours a "oublié" de rassembler un jury national pour l'Italie. La JRT (télévision yougoslave) qui organisait cette année là a constitué avec l'accord de l'UER un "faux" jury italien avec des yougoslaves dans un studio voisin. Lors de l'appel du présentateur yougoslave pour l'annonce des "pseudo" points italiens, le faux speaker italien s'est présenté comme "jury espagnol siégeant à Madrid ce qui créa un grand désordre.
En 1991, à Rome (Italie), la France et la Suède arrivent à égalité, s'ensuit un énorme cafouillage pour désigner le vainqueur, tout le monde se met à faire le décompte des points et Léon Zitrone (le commentateur français pour Antenne 2) est exaspéré. La Suède est désignée vainqueur, il ne peut plus y avoir de vainqueurs ex-æquo, depuis l'égalité entre 4 gagnants en 1969. Le Grand Prix est attribué à la chanson ayant obtenu le plus souvent le nombre de points maximum (12 points). Si la chanson gagnante ne peut être déterminée à l'aide de cette procédure, l'élément décisif sera alors le nombre de fois qu'elle aura remporté 10 points. Pour la France : cinq fois 12 points et deux fois 10 points. Pour la Suède : cinq fois 12 points et cinq fois 10 points.
En 1995, le groupe Secret Garden gagne pour la Norvège avec la chanson Nocturne, certains pays s'offusquent de cette victoire, jugeant que la chanson comporte très peu de paroles. C'est effectivement la chanson qui comporte le moins de phrases de toute l'histoire de l'Eurovision.
En 1998, l'Italie décide de ne plus participer au Concours Eurovision de la chanson. Elle consacre tout son intérêt au festival de San Remo. Il faut dire que l'intérêt du public italien pour le concours Eurovision a connu de sérieuses défaillances dès la fin des années 60. L'Italie est le seul pays d'Europe où aucune chanson gagnante n'a été un succès commercial dans l'histoire de l'Eurovision si l'on met à part "Non ho l'eta" interprétée par Gigliola Cinquetti en 1964. Mais son succès était lié à sa victoire au festival de San Remo quelques semaines plus tôt. L'Italie dès le début des années 80 participait à l'Eurovision par "soutien européen" mais dans les années 90, le retransmettait en différé à minuit.
En 1999, à Jérusalem (Israël), lors de la remise de la récompense à la gagnante Charlotte Nilsson, Dana International gagnante en 1998, se prend le pied dans le bas de sa robe et chute sur scène alors qu'elle portait le trophée pour le remettre à l'auteur de la chanson. C'est l'auteur qui aidera Dana à se relever. Elle quittera la scène en riant.
En 2003, les chanteuses du groupe t.A.T.u décident de se marier si elles gagnent le concours, elle se classeront 3ème.
À la fin du concours 2005 à Kiev en Ukraine, c'est le président de l'Ukraine Viktor Iouchtchenko (président de 2004 à 2010) qui a remis en personne le trophée à la gagnante Élena Paparízou (gagnante pour la Grèce). C'est la première fois dans l'histoire du concours qu'un chef d'État remet le trophée au vainqueur.
En 2006, des religieux grecs (le concours se tenant à Athènes) ont essayé de faire pression sur le comité organisateur en le menaçant de représailles dans le but de faire interdire la venue du groupe finlandais Lordi, qu'ils considéraient comme des envoyés de Satan. La menace n'a pas abouti. Mais la victoire de Lordi a d'ailleurs été considérée par ces religieux comme nulle et non avenue. La presse suédoise considéra que cette victoire était " une décadence satanique ; la victoire du mauvais goût et de la laideur ", s'est empressé de considérer la chanteuse suédoise Carola, qui n'est pourtant arrivée que cinquième. Michel Drucker, refusant de reconnaître la victoire de Lordi, déclara qu'à ses yeux c'était le chanteur russe Dima Bilan, 2e, qui était le véritable vainqueur. Ironie du sort, ce dernier revint pour l'édition 2008 et gagna, cette fois réellement, sans que Drucker n'ait pu en être témoin puisque depuis la victoire de Lordi, il ne veut plus entendre parler d'Eurovision. Plus tard, le groupe sortira une chanson nommée Devil Is a Loser ("Le diable est un perdant"), dans laquelle ils affirment qu'ils n'ont aucune affiliation avec Satan ou tout autre culte.
En mai 2008, un documentaire présenté par TVE (la télévision espagnole), affirme que les votes et le résultat final du Concours Eurovision de la chanson 1968 ont été truqués (1re : Massiel avec La la la, 2ème : Cliff Richard avec Congratulations avec une différence d'un point). Cliff Richard ,qui n'a jamais supporté cette 2e place, réclame maintenant sa victoire.
Concours Eurovision de la chanson 2009: La cérémonie démarre par l'arrivée du gagnant de l'année précédente, Dima Bilan, qui interprète sa chanson. Il arrive suspendu à un fil et lorsqu'il retire sa veste, celle-ci reste coincée.
Durant la finale du Concours Eurovision de la chanson 2010 à Oslo, la prestation du concurrent espagnol Daniel Diges est perturbée par un intrus nommé Jimmy Jump (de son vrai nom Jaume Marquet Cot) qui se glisse sur scène, parodiant le chanteur et les danseurs, avant d'être emmené par la sécurité. Diges a pu rechanter sa chanson après que tous les autres candidats furent passés sur scène (le dernier passé en 25ème position étant le Danemark). C'est la deuxième fois depuis 1964, qu'un artiste est perturbé par un intrus lors de sa prestation.
Concours Eurovision de la chanson 2011: retour annoncé de l'Italie qui n'avait plus participé depuis 1998.

European Song Contest

Influence de la rivalité et des conflits israélo-arabes sur la diffusion
En participant au Concours Eurovision de la chanson, chaque chaîne de télévision en compétition s'engage à retransmettre la manifestation dans son intégralité (demi-finale et finale). C'est pourquoi le Liban, en 2005, après avoir annoncé sa première participation, s'est retiré de la compétition. La chaîne de télévision libanaise qui devait retransmettre l'événement ne pouvait se soumettre au règlement car la loi libanaise interdit toute référence à l'État hébreu, puisque Israël n'est pas reconnu par le Liban. La chanson retenue était Quand tout s'enfuit, interprétée en français par Aline Lahoud.
Ce n'est pas la première fois que ce style d'incident arrive. En 1978, la télévision de Jordanie (JRTV) retransmet l'émission en direct, mais lors du passage de la chanson israélienne, la chaîne décide de diffuser une image de fleurs. Quand il y a eu la certitude de la victoire israélienne, la diffusion des votes fut interrompue pour diffuser un film américain. Le lendemain, la Belgique, représentée par Jean Vallée, qui avait terminé deuxième, fut annoncée comme gagnante par les services d'informations de Jordanie.
Style musical trop formaté pour l'Eurovision
La majorité des chansons de l'Eurovision sont formatées et ne traduisent pas la réalité de la scène musicale. On note toutefois que ce formatage est en voie notable de régression, et que ce sont majoritairement les nouveaux pays participants qui ont apporté la fraîcheur et l'originalité dans le concours.
Les candidats proposent souvent une musique " pop " assez consensuelle, ceci afin de plaire au plus grand nombre de téléspectateurs issus de cultures et de pays différents. Cette critique est toutefois à tempérer au regard de gagnants des dernières années, par exemple Dana International pour Israël en 1998, ou Lordi pour la Finlande en 2006.
Le problème de la langue
La plupart des participants ne chantent pas dans leur langue maternelle (voir la colonne " langues " dans le tableau des participants). Pourtant si cette restriction a été levée, c'était à la demande majoritaire des nouveaux pays parlant souvent des langues nationales minoritaires, non représentées parmi les autres pays devant voter pour eux.
Au niveau national aussi, il peut y avoir des divergences : en 2008, le chanteur d'électro-pop Sébastien Tellier, choisi par France 3 pour représenter la France, provoque un scandale auprès des députés UMP avant même le 24 mai (date de la finale du concours) à cause de sa chanson Divine, dont les paroles sont en anglais. En définitive, il accepte de modifier le morceau en y plaçant une phrase en français, réduite à 13 mots. Il se classa 19e avec 47 points. Rappelons qu'au Concours 2001, Natasha St-Pier, qui représentait la France avec Je n'ai que mon âme, a chanté les 2/3 de sa chanson en français et la fin en anglais. Elle chante exclusivement cette version pour le concours. Elle se classa 4e. Au Concours 2004, Jonatan Cerrada a chanté À chaque pas en français et quelques mots en espagnol à la fin. Il se classa 15e. En 2007, les Fatals Picards, qui chantaient L'Amour à la française, ont fait du " franglais " : ils mélangeaient des paroles en français (en parodiant l'accent anglophone) et en anglais (souvent dans une même phrase). Le groupe se classa 22e. Des représentants français ont chanté dans des langues régionales : Dan Ar Braz et l'Héritage des celtes en Breton en 1996, le chanteur Kali en Créole en 1992 et Patrick Fiori en corse (et en français) dans Mama Corsica en 1993.
D'autres pays ont chanté dans une langue régionale dont l'Estonie en 2004 le groupe Neikõsõ chante Tii une chanson en võro un dialècte du sud de l'Estonie
Certains pays ont aussi présenté des chansons dans des langues imaginaires. Ce fut le cas de la Belgique, qui envoya le groupe Urban Trad avec Sanomi en 2003 (2e), et le groupe Ishtar en 2008, éliminé en demi-finale.
Votes de voisinages et alliances géographiques persistantes[modifier]

Cet article ne cite pas suffisamment ses sources (mai 2009).
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Les statistiques des votes montrent une forte tendance de certains pays votants à privilégier des pays limitrophes, géographiquement ou linguistiquement proches, plutôt que la qualité musicale intrinsèque des participants, ce qui crée un biais dans les résultats[6]. Les organisateurs tempèrent cette objection par le fait que, s'il existe des votes de voisinage, c'est que ces pays sont culturellement proches, et donc à même de voter pour des pays partageant les mêmes goûts.
On note l'influence assez certaine de la solidarité régionale, surtout parmi les anciens pays du " Bloc de l'Est ". Toutefois, cette solidarité pourrait être accentuée par le système de sélection pour la finale, qui privilégie les quatre grands pays (le Big 4), qui par ailleurs appartiennent à des cultures en forte concurrence.

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