Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest, annual singing contest organized by the European Broadcasting Union. The competition, begun in 1956, gathers performers—selected at the national level by each participating country’s public broadcasting service—from across Europe and representing virtually every genre of popular music.

First held on May 24, 1956, in Lugano, Switzerland, the contest was one of the earliest attempts to broadcast a live televised event to a large international market. The inaugural proceedings featured solo artists (duos were admitted in 1957, but groups would not be allowed to compete until 1971) from just seven countries. That number would more than double by the time the 1961 contest was held in Cannes, France.

Contestants were originally evaluated by a “jury” of representatives from different countries, who awarded points for each performance. The early 21st century saw the addition of a popular vote that allowed viewers to participate via telephone or text message. Although scoring was tabulated in such a way that viewers could not vote for entrants from their own countries, blocs soon emerged along regional or ethnic lines. Indeed, much like the Olympic Games, Eurovision offered a broadly appealing cultural spectacle, but the political dimensions of the contest often became stories in themselves. Turkey, host of the 2004 competition, used the event to emphasize the importance of integration between Turkey and the European Union. When Azerbaijan hosted in 2012, attention was focused on that country’s human rights record. In 2014, as Russia was widely criticized for its adoption of antigay legislation and its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, the Russian contestants were booed by the studio audience, and the competition was won by transvestite performer Conchita Wurst of Austria.

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The winner earns widespread recognition and a glass trophy in the shape of a microphone; moreover, traditionally, the victor’s homeland is accorded the right to host the contest the following year. While an appearance in the competition does not guarantee future commercial success, the Eurovision Song Contest was instrumental in launching the careers of Julio Iglesias (Spain, 1970), ABBA (Sweden, 1974), Céline Dion (Switzerland, 1988), and dancer Michael Flatley, whose intermission performance in 1994 stole the show and launched the global phenomenon known as Riverdance.

The table lists the winners of the Eurovision Song Contest and the country they represented.