1.
Hammersmith Apollo
–
The Hammersmith Apollo is an entertainment venue and a Grade II* listed building located in Hammersmith, London. Designed by Robert Cromie in Art Deco style, it opened in 1932 as the Gaumont Palace and it has had a string of names and owners, most recently AEG Live and Eventim UK. The venue was opened in 1932 as the Gaumont Palace and seated nearly 3,500 people and it was designed by Robert Cromie in the Art Deco style. In 1962, the building was renamed Hammersmith Odeon, a name many people use for the venue along with the abbreviation Hammy-O. It became a Grade II listed building in 1990, the venue was later refurbished and renamed Labatts Apollo following a sponsorship deal with Labatt Brewing Company. In 2002, the venue was renamed, this time to Carling Apollo after Carling brewery struck a deal with the owners. The venues listing was upgraded to Grade II* status in 2005, in 2003, the stalls seats were made removable and now some concerts have full seating whilst others have standing-only in the stalls. In the latter format the venue can accommodate around 5,000 people, the event was marked by rock band AC/DC playing an exclusive one-off concert and only charging £10 per ticket. All 5,000 tickets sold out in 4 minutes, in 2006, the venue reverted to its former name, the Hammersmith Apollo. In 2007, the original 1932 Compton pipe organ, still present from the days as a cinema, was restored. The building then changed hands and was bought by the MAMA Group, as a result, the venue was named HMV Apollo from 2009 until 2012. Other venues purchased include The Forum in Londons Kentish Town, the Birmingham Institute, the venue was sold by HMV Group in May 2012 to AEG Live and CTS Eventim. In 2013, the venue was closed for a refurbishment which was carried out by award-winning architect Foster Wilson. The venue reopened as the Eventim Apollo on 7 September 2013, the original 1932 Compton pipe organ is still present at the Apollo and was fully restored to playing condition in 2007. It has a console which rises through the stage on a new lift. Having fallen into disrepair, the organ was disconnected in the 1990s, however at English Heritage and the councils insistence it has been reinstated and the entire organ restored. A launch party was held on 25 July 2007, at which an invited audience, pipe organs such as this were installed in most cinemas of the pre-war period to provide music for film shows, accompany silent movies and to feature in solo performances. Many were also broadcast on the radio and recorded on 78 rpm records and these organs were based on church-type instruments but had many other sounds including percussion instruments built in
2.
Petra Mede
–
Petra Maria Mede is a Swedish comedian, dancer, actress and television presenter. She was born in Stockholm, and grew up in Gothenburg, Mede is known for her several roles in comic shows and as a television presenter. She is best known for hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013, in 2009 she hosted Melodifestivalen 2009, where the Swedish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was chosen and was voted Swedens best female comedian the same year. In May 2013 Petra hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö and her performance was widely acclaimed by TV critics and journalists around Europe and she performed an interval act during the Grand Final. She was the first solo presenter in nearly 20 years after Mary Kennedy hosted solo in Dublin back in 1995, once again, her performance was highly acclaimed by the British Press along with fans of the Contest. In 2016, Mede was the co-host the first semi-final of the Swedish Melodifestivalen 2016 with Gina Dirawi at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, on 14 December 2015, SVT announced in a press conference that Mede and Måns Zelmerlöw would co-host the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. It was Medes second time hosting the contest, joining Katie Boyle, Mede speaks Swedish, English, Spanish, Italian and French. Together with her partner Mattias Günther, she has a born in 2012. However in 2015, it was confirmed that her and Günther had split, medicinen Official website Petra Mede at the Internet Movie Database
3.
Graham Norton
–
Graham William Walker, better known as Graham Norton, is an Irish television and radio presenter, DJ, comedian, actor, and writer. He is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for his comedy chat show The Graham Norton Show, previously shown on BBC Two, it took the prestigious Friday night slot on BBC One from The Jonathan Ross Show in 2010. He also presents on BBC Radio 2 and is the BBC television commentator of the Eurovision Song Contest, Norton is known for his innuendo-laden dialogue and flamboyant presentation style. In 2012, he sold his company, So Television. In a 2004 poll for the BBC, Norton was named the eighth most influential person in British culture, Norton was born in Clondalkin, a suburb of Dublin, and grew up in Bandon, County Cork. His family are members of the Church of Ireland and his fathers family were from County Wicklow, while his mother was Northern Irish, from Belfast. Norton took part in the TV programme Who Do You Think You Are. to trace his ancestry. Norton was educated at Bandon Grammar School, in West Cork, and then University College, Cork, in June 2013, he received an honorary doctorate from University College Cork, he occasionally mentions this in order to win on-air arguments on his BBC Radio 2 show. Norton moved to London and attended the Central School of Speech and he also worked as a waiter during that time. Upon joining the actors union Equity, he chose Norton as his stage name, as there was already an actor called Graham Walker. His rise to fame began as one of the successes of Channel 5. In 1996, he co-hosted the late-night quiz show Carnal Knowledge on ITV with Maria McErlane. In 1996, Norton played the part of Father Noel Furlong in three episodes of the Channel 4 series Father Ted, which was set on the fictional Craggy Island off the west coast of Ireland, Father Furlong was often seen taking charge of the St. Lukes Youth Group. After this early success, Norton moved to Channel 4 to host his own shows including So Graham Norton. As a performer who is not only gay, but also camp and flamboyant, it was here that Nortons act was fully honed as a cheeky. In 2003, he was the subject of controversy in the United Kingdom when, on his show on Channel 4, also in 2003, Norton was listed in The Observer as one of the 1000 funniest acts in British comedy. In the summer of 2004, Norton ventured into American television, the Graham Norton Effect debuted on 24 June 2004 on Comedy Central, and was also broadcast in the UK on BBC Three. In the midst of controversy surrounding Justin Timberlake and Janet Jacksons Super Bowl performance, Norton was wary of moving into the market
4.
Jon Ola Sand
–
Jon Ola Sand is a Norwegian television executive, who is the European Broadcasting Unions Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest. He is the son of writer and actor Bjørn Sand. He grew up at Vinderen in Oslo, and has a brother and his brother, Simen, is an actor and author. As of May 2010, Sand was in a relationship with the Swedish choreographer Mattias Carlsson. In October 2010, Sand was a passenger on a train derailed at Skotterud in Hedmark, Norway. Sand appeared in a role in the 1980 film At dere tør. having graduated the same year from the music branch of his local upper secondary school. As a teenager he played the drums in a rock band, which eventually led him being hired by NRK. He started his career in NRK in 1981, and advanced via programme secretary to producer and project leader. He had a stint in the competing channel TV2 from 1992 to 1996, Sand is a member of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Television shows produced or directed by Sand include the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, in the years 1998 to 2005 he led the Norwegian delegation to the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2010, Sand was appointed as the Executive Producer of the 55th Eurovision Song Contest 2010, held in Oslo, Norway. Sand is a producer for the Norwegian television channel NRK, which was responsible for holding the festival in 2010. Sand reportedly edged out 39 other applicants, as Executive Supervisor, Sand has the last call with regards to the production of the Eurovision song contest, with the ability to overrule the producers, and instruct. He is also responsible for the organization of the system of the contest. He made his debut as Executive Supervisor at the Eurovision in Düsseldorf in 2011, Sand was later appointed as the Executive Supervisor for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016. He has been on leave from NRK since being appointed Executive Supervisor, in an interview with the news agency Reuters in 2011, Sand launched the idea of extending the Eurovision Song Contest to a Worldvision Song Contest. In May 2015, Sand stated to the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK that the Worldvision idea was not moving forward. He also cited the large cost of a song contest
5.
European Broadcasting Union
–
The European Broadcasting Union is an alliance of public service media entities, established on 12 February 1950. As of 2015, the organisation comprises 73 active members in 56 countries, most EU states are part of this organisation and therefore EBU has been subject to supranational legislation and regulation. It also hosted debates between candidates for the European Commission presidency for the 2014 parliamentary elections but is unrelated to the institution itself and it is best known for producing the Eurovision Song Contest. EBU is a member of the International Music Council, Members of the EBU are radio and television companies, most of which are government-owned public service broadcasters or privately owned stations with public service missions. Active Members come from as far north as Iceland and as far south as Egypt, from Ireland in the west and Azerbaijan in the east, Associate Members are from countries and territories beyond Europe, such as Canada, Japan, Mexico, India, and Hong Kong. Associate Members from the United States include ABC, CBS, NBC, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Time Warner, and the only individual station, Chicago-based classical music station WFMT. Active Members are those paying EBU members meeting all technical criteria for full membership, syria is an example of a country within the EBA not complying with all technical criteria for full membership, and thus it is currently only granted Associated Membership. The EBUs highest profile production is the Eurovision Song Contest, organised by its Eurovision Network, the countries represented in the EBU also co-operate to create documentaries and childrens programming. Most EBU broadcasters have a deal to carry the Olympics. Another annually recurring event which is broadcast across Europe through the EBU is the Vienna New Years Concert, the theme music played before EBU broadcasts is Marc-Antoine Charpentiers Prelude to Te Deum. It is well known to Europeans as it is played before and after the Eurovision Song Contest, the EBU was a successor to the International Broadcasting Union that was founded in 1925 and had its administrative headquarters in Geneva and technical office in Brussels. It fostered programming exchanges between members and mediated disputes between members that were mostly concerned with frequency and interference issues. It was in effect taken over by Nazi Germany during the Second World War, france proposed that it would have four votes with the inclusion of its North African colonies. Great Britain felt it would have influence with just one vote. On 27 June 1946 the alternative International Broadcasting Organisation was founded with 26 members, the following day the IBU met in General Assembly and an attempt was made to dissolve it but failed, though 18 of its 28 members left to join the IBO. For a period of time in the late 1940s both the IBU and IBO vied for the role of organising frequencies but Britain decided to be in involved in neither, the BBC attempted but failed to find suitable working arrangements with them. However, for practical purposes the IBO rented the IBU technical centre in Brussels, in August 1949 a meeting took place in Stresa, Italy but it resulted in disagreement between delegates on how to resolve the problems. One proposal was for the European Broadcasting Area to be replaced by one that would exclude Eastern Europe, after Stresa, a consensus emerged among the Western Europeans to form a new organisation and the BBC proposed it be based in London
6.
BBC
–
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. It is headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, the BBC is the worlds oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees. It employs over 20,950 staff in total,16,672 of whom are in public sector broadcasting, the total number of staff is 35,402 when part-time, flexible, and fixed contract staff are included. The BBC is established under a Royal Charter and operates under its Agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament, and used to fund the BBCs radio, TV, britains first live public broadcast from the Marconi factory in Chelmsford took place in June 1920. It was sponsored by the Daily Mails Lord Northcliffe and featured the famous Australian Soprano Dame Nellie Melba, the Melba broadcast caught the peoples imagination and marked a turning point in the British publics attitude to radio. However, this public enthusiasm was not shared in official circles where such broadcasts were held to interfere with important military and civil communications. By late 1920, pressure from these quarters and uneasiness among the staff of the licensing authority, the General Post Office, was sufficient to lead to a ban on further Chelmsford broadcasts. But by 1922, the GPO had received nearly 100 broadcast licence requests, John Reith, a Scottish Calvinist, was appointed its General Manager in December 1922 a few weeks after the company made its first official broadcast. The company was to be financed by a royalty on the sale of BBC wireless receiving sets from approved manufacturers, to this day, the BBC aims to follow the Reithian directive to inform, educate and entertain. The financial arrangements soon proved inadequate, set sales were disappointing as amateurs made their own receivers and listeners bought rival unlicensed sets. By mid-1923, discussions between the GPO and the BBC had become deadlocked and the Postmaster-General commissioned a review of broadcasting by the Sykes Committee and this was to be followed by a simple 10 shillings licence fee with no royalty once the wireless manufactures protection expired. The BBCs broadcasting monopoly was made explicit for the duration of its current broadcast licence, the BBC was also banned from presenting news bulletins before 19.00, and required to source all news from external wire services. Mid-1925 found the future of broadcasting under further consideration, this time by the Crawford committee, by now the BBC under Reiths leadership had forged a consensus favouring a continuation of the unified broadcasting service, but more money was still required to finance rapid expansion. Wireless manufacturers were anxious to exit the loss making consortium with Reith keen that the BBC be seen as a service rather than a commercial enterprise. The recommendations of the Crawford Committee were published in March the following year and were still under consideration by the GPO when the 1926 general strike broke out in May. The strike temporarily interrupted newspaper production and with restrictions on news bulletins waived the BBC suddenly became the source of news for the duration of the crisis. The crisis placed the BBC in a delicate position, the Government was divided on how to handle the BBC but ended up trusting Reith, whose opposition to the strike mirrored the PMs own
7.
Hallelujah (Gali Atari and Milk & Honey song)
–
Hallelujah was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, performed in Hebrew by Gali Atari and Milk & Honey for Israel. The group was formed for the purpose of performing in the contest when the original performers. This was the occasion on which the host country had won the Contest. Israel could neither host nor compete in the next Contest, which was scheduled for the day as Yom Hazikaron - Israels Memorial Day. The song is regarded as a classic of the Contest due in no part to the unique performance, in which Atari and her backing singers entered the stage one by one. It was also performed at the end of the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 by all the contestants as a tribute to the victims of the wars in the Balkans. It has also become something of a modern Jewish standard, recognized by many North Americans who might never even have heard of Eurovision and it was performed tenth on the night, following Germanys Dschinghis Khan with Dschinghis Khan and preceding Frances Anne-Marie David with Je suis lenfant soleil. At the close of voting, it had received 125 points, ironically, it was the Spanish jury that gifted the contest to Israel. The song was succeeded as Contest winner in 1980 by Johnny Logan singing Whats Another Year for Ireland, Israel did not enter the 1980 Contest, which would have been held in that country had they entered. Israel returned to the fold for the 1981 Contest, where song was succeeded as Israeli representative by Hakol Over Habibi with Halayla. The husband-and-wife singing duo of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme released the song in early 1979 on Warner Brothers Records, the song was a modest hit on the adult contemporary chart, and the couple also performed it on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. They also recorded a version which was released on Applause Records in 1982. In 1987, the Oshrats composition was covered by Marika Gombitová, Karel Gott and Josef Laufer, as a trio, the song was presented on November 1,1987, and with alternate lyrics by Zdeněk Borovec during the pre-filmed live show Abeceda, G+L created by Česká televize. Music of Israel Culture of Israel Graclík, Miroslav, Nekvapil, Marika Gombitová, An Unauthorized Lifestory of the Legend of Czechoslovak Pop Music. Prague, Czech Republic, XYZ. p.446, slovak Popular Music in the Years 1977–1989 – Marika Gombitová. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14, slovak Popular Music in the Years 1977–1989 – Modus. Lyrics of Hallelujah Lyrics of Hallelujah Eurovision 1979 performance video on YouTube Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme recording on YouTube
8.
Volare (song)
–
Nel blu dipinto di blu, popularly known as Volare, is a song recorded by Italian singer-songwriter Domenico Modugno. Written by Franco Migliacci and Domenico Modugno, it was released as a single on 1 February 1958. Winning the eighth Sanremo Music Festival, the song was chosen as the Italian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest in 1958 and it spent five non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in August and September 1958 and was Billboards number-one single for the year. Modugnos recording subsequently became the first Grammy winner for Record of the Year, the song was later translated in several languages and it was recorded by a wide range of performers. Franco Migliacci started working on the lyrics of the song in June 1957 and he had planned to go to the sea with Domenico Modugno, but while waiting for Modugno to show up, Migliacci started drinking wine and eventually fell asleep. He had vivid dreams, and when he woke up, he looked at the Chagall paintings on the wall, in Le coq rouge was a yellow man suspended in midair, while in Le peintre et la modelle, half the painters face was coloured blue. So he started penning a song about a man who dreams of painting himself blue, later that same night, Migliacci discussed his lyrics with Modugno, and for several days they worked on the song, tentatively entitled Sogno in blu. The song is a ballad in a dramatic style, in which Modugno describes the feeling he has. The song opens with a prelude which the cover versions often left out. Mi dipingevo le mani e la faccia di blu, poi dimprovviso venivo dal vento rapito, the English lyrics were written by Mitchell Parish. Alternative English lyrics were written in 1958 by Dame Gracie Fields and she often changed the words to suit her performance and age. In 1958, the participated in the selection process for the eighth Sanremo Music Festival. The jury charged with selecting the entries to the competition was going to reject Nel blu dipinto di blu, on 31 January 1958, the song was performed for the first time, during the second night of the eighth Sanremo Music Festival, by Domenico Modugno and Johnny Dorelli. It was Dorellis first appearance on the Sanremo Music Festival, according to his team-partner, Dorelli was so nervous that he had to be punched by Modugno to be persuaded to perform on the stage. Dorellis performance didnt have a big impact on the audience, while Modugnos is now considered to be the event which changed the history of Italian music, during his performance, Modugno opened his arms, as if he was going to fly. Following the first place at the Sanremo Music Festival, the song was chosen to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 1958, Domenico Modugno was chosen as the singer. The song was performed first on the night, preceding the Netherlands Corry Brokken with Heel de wereld. Due to a fault, the song was not heard in all countries transmitting the event, so it was performed at the end as well
9.
Making Your Mind Up
–
Making Your Mind Up is a song by British pop group Bucks Fizz. It was the winner of the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest and a UK Number-one single, released in March 1981, it was Bucks Fizzs debut single, the group having been formed just two months earlier. From 2004 to 2007 the BBC used the name Making Your Mind Up for their Eurovision selection show in honour of the song. In late 1980, songwriter Andy Hill teamed up with John Danter, working with his then girlfriend, Nichola Martin, a former singer, they set about recording a demo of the song to enter. This featured the vocals of Hill, Martin and Mike Nolan, Martin then set about gathering a line-up to enter the song with, based around her and Nolan. With the song already entered under the name Bucks Fizz, Martin and future manager, Jill Shirley recruited Cheryl Baker, Bobby G and Jay Aston to the line-up, with Martin herself dropping out. The song secured an entry into the final along with another Hill/Danter composition, Have You Ever Been in Love, Martin and Shirley secured a recording deal with RCA Records and Hill spent a week at Mayfair Studios in London with the group recording the song and its B-side. Backing vocals on the record were supplied by Alan Carvell, who went on to be one of two backing singers in the Eurovision performance. The song was published by Paper Music, which was a publishing company owned by Billy Lawrie – himself a songwriter and brother of singer Lulu. Choreographer Chrissie Whickham, a member of dance troupe Hot Gossip. The lyrics of the song are largely meaningless, although it can be argued that they are making the decision to commit to a serious relationship. On 11 March 1981, Bucks Fizz performed Making Your Mind Up at the Song for Europe finals and despite being up against favourites and current chart group Liquid Gold, won the contest with ease. From this point, the group undertook much promotion of the song around the UK, including an appearance on Top of the Pops and it rose to No.5 the following week. A promotional video was filmed by the BBC for the Eurovision previews as they had done in previous years, the video depicts the group walking around Harrods department store in London. In line with other previous preview videos, the group do not lipsynch any of the words and this video has never been released on any official Bucks Fizz video or DVD release, being usually substituted by the groups first appearance on Top of the Pops. On 4 April, the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest was staged in Dublin, in a close contest throughout the voting procedure, Making Your Mind Up managed to secure a victory with 136 points, beating second-placed Germany by a small margin of four. The song is held in regard by many Eurovision fans. Member Cheryl Baker has since commented on their poor performance stating that she sang the song in a key to the rest of the group due to nerves
10.
Waterloo (ABBA song)
–
Waterloo was the first single from the Swedish pop group ABBAs second album, Waterloo and their first under the Epic and Atlantic labels. This was also the first single to be credited to the group performing under the name ABBA, on 6 April 1974 the song was the winning entry for Sweden in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest. The victory began ABBAs path to worldwide fame, the Swedish version of the single was a double A-side with Honey, Honey, while the English version usually featured Watch Out on the B-side. The single became a No.1 hit in several countries, Top 10 and went on to sell nearly six million copies, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. Waterloo is the quintessential Eurovision song, according to Dr Harry Witchel, physiologist, at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, it was chosen as the best song in the competitions history. Since it focused on lead vocalists Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson chose Waterloo in place of another of their songs, Hasta Mañana. Waterloo is about a girl who is obliged to surrender to the demands of her conqueror, as Napoleon had to surrender at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, the song proved to be a wise choice. It won Melodifestivalen 1974 in February and won the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 final on 6 April by six points, the original title of the song was Honey Pie. Waterloo was originally written with simultaneous rock music and jazz beats, compared to later ABBA releases, the singers Swedish accents are decidedly more pronounced in Waterloo, as their understanding of the English language was limited. Though it isnt well-known, Polar accidentally released a different version of Waterloo shortly after ABBAs Eurovision win before replacing it with the famous version. The alternative version had a rock sound, omitting the saxophones. The alternative version was released in 2005 as part of The Complete Studio Recordings box set. However, it was this version that ABBA performed during their 1979 tour of Europe, the song shot to No.1 in the UK and stayed there for two weeks, becoming the first of the bands nine UK No. 1s, and the 16th biggest selling single of the year in the UK, the song also spent 11 weeks on Svensktoppen, including 7 weeks at No.1. Unlike other Eurovision-winning tunes, the songs appeal transcended Europe, Waterloo also reached the Top 10 in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Rhodesia, the Waterloo album performed similarly well in Europe, although in the US it failed to match the success of the single. In 1994, Waterloo was included in the soundtrack of the film Muriels Wedding and it was re-released in 2004, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of ABBAs Eurovision win, reaching No.20 on the UK charts. On 22 October 2005, at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Eurovision Song Contest, Watch Out –3,46 Waterloo Waterloo Waterloo - recorded 18 April 1974 in Paris, France Waterloo - overdubs of French and Swedish versions Waterloo Waterloo
11.
Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Portugal has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 48 times since its debut in the 1964 contest. Since then it has missed five contests,1970,2000,2002,2013 and 2016, Portugal has yet to win the contest and holds the record for most appearances in the contest without a win. In fact, the country has yet to reach the top five of any contest, the contest is broadcast in Portugal by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. Portugals debut entry was António Calvário with Oração, it was not a successful debut for the country, with Calvário coming last in the contest. Since then Portugal has come last on two occasions, in 1974, when Paulo de Carvalho sang E depois do adeus. Prior to Moniz finishing sixth in 1996, Portugals best result in the contest was two seventh-place finishes, for Carlos Mendes in 1972 and José Cid in 1980,1996 remains the last time that Portugal reached the top ten. Despite having some really weak results the 90s were the most successful decade for the country reaching the top 10 four times, Portugal had admission to take part in the 2000 and 2002 contest but refused. Its place was taken by Latvia both times, which ended up winning the contest in the latter year, since semi-finals were introduced in 2004, Portugal has failed to reach the final eight times, including from 2004 to 2007. The country did reach the final from 2008 to 2010, in 2008, Vânia Fernandes finished 13th with the song Senhora do Mar, Portugals best outcome since 1998. As of 2016,2010 remains the last time Portugal participated in the Eurovision final, having failed to qualify from the four more times. Portugal has been absent from five contests since their first participation, the countrys first absence was in 1970 where Portugal, along with four other countries, boycotted the contest due to the result of the previous year, when four countries were announced the winner. Portugal missed the 2000 contest due to their poor results over the past five years. Despite being eligible to enter the 2002 contest, RTP declined to enter, the fourth absence was in 2013, when Portugal didnt participate for financial reasons. The fifth absence was in 2016, Festival da Canção is the Portuguese national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, organized by RTP, and is normally held in February/March of the year of the contest. It is one of the longest-running Eurovision selection methods, previously a number of regional juries selected the winner, however recently the winner has been selected through televoting. In 2009 and 2010, a 50-50 system between district juries and televote has been used. In the years when Portugal was absent from the contest, the Festival da Canção hasnt been held and it is worth noticing that three out of five times that Portugal was absent the contest was held in Sweden. Table key NOTE, If a country had won the previous year, in addition from 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year
12.
Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Spain has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 56 times since making its debut in 1961, where they finished ninth. Spain has competed in the contest continuously since the debut in 1961. The only country with a run of uninterrupted Eurovision appearances is the United Kingdom. The 1969 contest in Madrid is the only time Spain has hosted the event, since lots were drawn after 1969s four way tie and the 1970 contest was hosted by the Netherlands. Spain has also finished second in the contest four times, with Karina in 1971, Mocedades in 1973, Betty Missiego in 1979 and Anabel Conde in 1995, and third in 1984 with Bravo. The country finished last with Nul points in 1962,1965 and 1983, Spain has had less success in recent years, failing to reach the top 10 in 10 of the last 12 contests. The exceptions being 10th-place finishes for Pastora Soler in 2012 and Ruth Lorenzo in 2014, Spain has regularly changed the selection process used in order to find the countrys entry for the contest, either a national final or internal selection has been held by the broadcaster at the time. Between 1977 and 1999, Spains entries were selected internally by TVE, before that, internal selections and national contests, like Pasaporte a Dublín in 1971, were alternated. From 2000, Spain has used various formats with different results. In 2000 and 2001, TVE organised a final called Eurocanción. The result in the Eurovision final was not good and for 2006, in 2007, Spains entry was decided through the Misión Eurovisión 2007 show, with a disappointing result once again. From 2008 to 2010, the Internet was the key element of the used by TVE to select the Spanish entry. In 2008, the social networking website MySpace was involved in the national final Salvemos Eurovisión, a website was created to make it possible for anyone to upload a song and proceed to a televised final if chosen by online voters or an expert jury. The result improved a little, but not much, nevertheless the interest of the Spanish audience was revived again, for 2009, MySpace was still involved in the selection process Eurovisión 2009, El retorno, although some changes were introduced in the format. The result was the worst in the 2000s, 24th place, in 2010, a similar format, Eurovisión, Destino Oslo, selected the Spanish entry, with the best result since 2004. In 2011, Internet voting was scrapped from the new selection method Destino Eurovisión, after a further disappointing result, for 2012, TVE decided to approach an established act, Pastora Soler, and organise a national final to select her song. A top ten result was achieved for the first time since 2004, in 2014, TVE decided to return to a multi-artist national final procedure, called Mira quién va a Eurovisión, five artists were invited to participate by TVE. A top ten result was achieved for the time in three years
13.
San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
San Marino has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 7 times, debuting in the 2008 contest, followed by participation in 2011,2012 and 2013. Having failed to qualify in their first four attempts, San Marino qualified for the Eurovision final for the first time in 2014, five months later, the broadcaster confirmed their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade. The first Sammarinese entry in the Eurovision Song Contest was Miodio, San Marino holds the honour of being the 50th country to participate at Eurovision, participating 5th in the first semi-final of the contest. However, Miodio failed to qualify for the final, receiving just 5 points in total, despite this, the winner of the 2008 contest, Dima Bilan, concluded his Winners Tour in San Marino. SMRTV had originally planned to compete at the 2009 contest in Moscow, the Sammarinese Minister of Culture announced shortly after the 2008 contest that they have good hopes to return. SMRTV announced that it would be reviewing the 2008 contest, in the end, SMRTV announced its withdrawal from the 2009 contest, having already applied to enter. The broadcaster insisted that this was not due to the results of the previous year. San Marino did not return for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, the broadcaster announced that it hoped to return to the competition in the future and discussed possible participation in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. SMRTV made an application to participate in the 2011 contest, which was later confirmed and it was the second participation in the ESC for San Marino. The singer Senit was announced as the Sammarinese entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 and she sang Stand By, performed in English. As in 2008, SMRTV broadcast the full event, for the second time, San Marino failed to qualify for the final, coming sixteenth out of nineteen countries, with 34 points. On 17 January, it was confirmed by the EBU that San Marino will be participating in the 2012 edition, SMRTV confirmed on 14 March, that Valentina Monetta would represent San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in May. She was internally selected by SMRTV, facebook Uh, Oh, Oh was presented as the Sanmarinese entry. However, it was announced that the songs lyric breached rule 1.2.2. g of the competition, the lyric and the title of the song were changed shortly afterwards to The Social Network Song. Monetta performed the song during the first semi-final, but failed to advance to the final, San Marino confirmed in November 2012 that they would participate in the 2013 contest. Artist Lys Assia had been rumoured to represent the country with her song All in your head which failed to make the final of Switzerland. Instead, at a conference in January 2013, Valentina Monetta was revealed as the choice to represent San Marino at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013. She performed the song Crisalide in the second semi-final on 16 May in Malmö, for the fourth time, San Marino failed to qualify for the final, despite being, unlike previous year, a fans favourite
14.
France in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
France has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 59 times since its debut at the very first contest in 1956. France is one of seven countries to be present at the first contest. France first won the contest in 1958 with Dors, mon amour performed by André Claveau, frances fifth victory came in 1977, when Marie Myriam won with the song Loiseau et lenfant. France have also finished four times, with Paule Desjardins in 1957, Catherine Ferry in 1976, Joëlle Ursull in 1990 and Amina in 1991. France finished last for the first time in 2014, when Twin Twin received only two points. France have failed to reach the top 10 in 12 of the last 14 contests, the exceptions being Patricia Kaas, who was eighth in 2009, and Amir, several French broadcasters have been used to present Eurovision in the country, formerly RTF, ORTF and TF1. The first semi-final in 2004 was not broadcast, from 2015, France 2 resumed the responsibility of organising an entry and broadcasting the final and from 2016, both semi-finals will be broadcast by France 4. The change is an attempt to better ratings and results in forthcoming contests. Radio coverage has been provided, although not every year, by France Inter from 1971 to 1998 and since 2001, in 1982, RTL Radio transmitted the contest due to the countrys absence that year. France has often changed the process used in order to find the countrys entry for the contest. France is one of the most successful countries in the Eurovision, winning the contest five times, coming second four times, France was ranked first in number of victories without interruptions from 1960 to 1993. Moreover, Amina was close to victory with the song Le Dernier qui a parlé. in 1991, therefore, the countback rule applied, but both countries had an equal number of twelve points, but the victory went to Sweden, when France had fewer 10-point scores. Today, with the new rules, France would have won the competition, one year before, France was also close to winning with Joëlle Ursull performing Serge Gainsbourgs song White and Black Blues. The song finished in second place with Irelands entry. However, in recent years, the French results have been somewhat disappointing, since 1998, when the televoting was invented, France has almost always been in the bottom-10 countries in the final, coming 18th, 19th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th. France finished in last place, for the first time in their Eurovision history, yet, France have had some good results during the 21st century. In 2001, Canadian singer Natasha St-Pier came 4th for France with her song Je nai que mon âme, being the favourite to win the contest by fans and odds. This good result was carried into the 2002 contest, when Sandrine François came 5th with Il faut du temps, with these ambitions, the French superstar Patricia Kaas represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia
15.
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
The United Kingdom has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 59 times and is one of the most successful countries to compete in the contest. They first participated in the second contest in 1957, the UK has entered every year since 1959, and has won the contest a total of five times. Along with Sweden, the UK is one of two countries with Eurovision victories in four different decades. The British public broadcaster, the BBC, broadcasts the event each year and organises the selection process for the entry. For most years, the public had been able to vote for the winner, using in the past postcard voting, where the viewers sent postcards with their vote to the BBC, but more recently televoting. In 2009 and 2010, a new national selection format was held to find the singer who would go on to sing the internally selected song at the contest. From 2011 to 2015, for the first time in UKs Eurovision history and this resulted in the national selection process being suspended, however, this returned in 2016. The United Kingdom has finished last in three contests, in 2016, the UK failed to reach the top 10 for the seventh consecutive time, with the duo Joe and Jake finishing 24th. It was alleged that the United Kingdom were expected to take part in the first contest in 1956, and this was later revealed by the EBU in January 2017 to be a mythical fact created by fans of the contest. Patricia Bredin was the first performer to represent the UK at Eurovision, at their second attempt in the contest in 1959, the UK achieved the first of their record fifteen runner-up positions, when Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson sang Sing, Little Birdie. In 1968, another performer was selected to represent the UK with the song Congratulations. In London, Cliff Richard gave the UK their sixth second-place finish, Congratulations remains one of only two non-winning UK Eurovision songs to top the UK charts. The UKs pulling of second was provided by the Scottish singer Lulu in 1969 with the song Boom Bang-a-Bang, another established performer, she had reached the US #1 spot with To Sir with Love in 1967. Having finished second on three occasions in the 1970s, with Mary Hopkin in 1970, The New Seekers in 1972. The UK achieved their victory in 1976 with Brotherhood of Man and Save Your Kisses for Me, who won with 164 points. In 1977, the UK finished second for the time represented by Lynsey de Paul. The UKs fourth victory came in 1981, with Bucks Fizz, the group was created especially for the UK selection contest A Song for Europe. At Eurovision in Dublin, they defeated Germanys Lena Valaitis by four points, the group went on to continued success, with 13 UK top 40 hits over the next five years
16.
Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Ireland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 50 times since making its debut at the 1965 Contest in Naples. Since then, they have missed only two contests, in 1983 in Munich and 2002 in Tallinn, Ireland is the most successful country in the contest, with a total of seven wins. Raidió Teilifís Éireann is Irelands representative broadcaster at the contest, the semi-finals are broadcast on RTÉ Two, All of the Irish entries have been performed in English with the exception of the 1972 entry, Ceol an Ghrá, which was sung in Irish. Sean Dunphy finished second at the 1967 contest, behind Sandie Shaw, before Dana gave Ireland its first victory in 1970, the countrys next best result of the 1970s was in 1977, when The Swarbriggs plus two finished third. Johnny Logan gave Ireland a second victory in 1980, with Whats Another Year, Logan then wrote the 1984 entry Terminal 3, which finished second, performed by Linda Martin. In 1987, Logan became the first and only performer to win the contest twice, Irelands most successful decade to date in the contest is the 1990s, which began with Liam Reilly finishing joint second in 1990. Ireland then achieved a three consecutive victories in the contest. In 1992,1984 runner-up Linda Martin returned to win with another Johnny Logan composition and this was followed up by Niamh Kavanaghs victory over Sonia in 1993 with In Your Eyes and Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan winning in 1994 with Rock n Roll Kids. The decade saw yet another victory in 1996 when Eimear Quinn won with The Voice, Ireland also finished second in 1997 with Marc Roberts. In the 21st century, Ireland has fared well, only reaching the top 10 on three occasions, with Eamonn Toal sixth in 2000, Brian Kennedy tenth in 2006 and Jedward eighth in 2011. Ireland finished last in the final for the first time in 2007, since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Ireland has failed to reach the final six times, in 2005,2008,2009,2014,2015 and 2016. 2016 marked the first time that Ireland failed to qualify in three consecutive years, Ireland has competed in the Contest almost continuously since the countrys debut in 1965. In 1983 a strike at the national broadcaster RTÉ meant that the station lacked the resources to send a participant so RTÉ broadcast the Contest with the BBC commentary feed. In 2002 Ireland was relegated from the Contest, in keeping with the EBU rules, RTÉ broadcast that years event as they intended to return in 2003, and a TV commentator was sent to the host city, Tallinn. Ireland has sent 50 entries to the Eurovision Song Contest, of these seven have won, Ireland has been relegated once, in 2001 Gary OShaughnessy finished twenty-first with Without Your Love. In addition, six Irish entries have featured in the semi-final of the Contest, in 2005, Donna & Joe finished fourteenth in the pre-qualifier, failing to qualify for the final. In 2006, Brian Kennedy finished ninth in the semi-final, ensuring an Irish presence in the Athens final, Kennedy finished tenth in the final. Ireland also featured in the first semi-final in 2008 and in the second semi-final in 2009, Irelands recent results in the Contest have been poor in comparison to the 1990s, coming last in 2007 and 2013
17.
Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
The countrys best result is two second-place finishes, with Selma in 1999 and Yohanna in 2009. As of 2016, Iceland is the only Northern European country that has yet to win the Eurovision Song Contest, with the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Iceland automatically qualified for the final that year thanks to Birgittas 8th place the previous year. In 2008, Iceland reached the final for the first time since then, since the two semi-final system was introduced in 2008, Iceland has qualified for the final in seven straight contests, however, it failed to qualify for the final in 2015 and in 2016. Despite these mixed fortunes, Iceland is the second most successful country never to win the contest, sigríður Beinteinsdóttir has participated four times. Hera Björk has participated four times, stefán Hilmarsson has participated twice, as have Selma Björnsdóttir, Eiríkur Hauksson, Jón Jósep Snæbjörnsson and Gréta Salóme Stefánsdóttir. The Icelandic broadcaster for the contest is Ríkisútvarpið, table key NOTE, If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition, back in 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, as of 2016, Icelands voting history is as follows, Iceland has broadcast the show since 1970. The first to be broadcast live was the 1983 edition after the plan to broadcast the 1982 contest failed, since 1985, RÚV has broadcast the contest on the radio using same commentator for TV and radio and the Internet broadcast since early 2000s. Points to and from Iceland eurovisioncovers. co. uk Iceland 2011 Tirydou Finales Nationales
18.
Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Belgium has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 58 times since making its debut as one of the seven countries at the first contest in 1956. The only countries with more appearances are Germany, France and the United Kingdom, Belgium have been absent only three times in total, in 1994,1997 and 2001, due to low scores in the previous contests that relegated them from the contest. Belgium has won the contest once, in 1986, in the first 20 years of the contest, Belgiums best result was Tonias fourth place in 1966. In 1978, Jean Vallée achieved Belgiums first top three placement, when he was second, in 1986, Sandra Kim became the first and to date only winner for Belgium, when she performed the song Jaime la Vie, to win as a 13-year-old in Bergen. Belgiums only other top three result came in 2003, when the group Urban Trad finished second in Riga, losing out by two points. Belgium have finished last in the contest five times, most recently in 2000 and have twice received nul points, in 1962 and 1965. After the introduction of the round in 2004, Belgium failed to reach the final in seven out of eight contests, the exception being Tom Dice. Belgium has since achieved two top ten results, with Loïc Nottet finishing fourth 2015, and Laura Tesoro finishing 10th in 2016. Belgium has two national broadcasters of the contest, Flemish broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep and French-speaking broadcaster Radio télévision belge de la communauté française, the two broadcasters rotate selection for the Eurovision Song Contest each year. While VRT normally hosts a national final, Eurosong, when selecting their entries for Eurovision, Belgium has won the contest once, in 1986 when Sandra Kim won with her song Jaime la vie in Bergen, Norway. Although she claimed she was 15 years old, she was actually only 13, currently the minimum age for participation is 16 and thus Sandra Kim will remain the youngest winner unless the age limit is lowered. By winning in 1986, Belgium became the last of the French-speaking countries to win the contest, now Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Monaco and Switzerland all had won at least once. Belgium scored a record at the time, with Sandra Kim earning a never seen before amount of 176 points. Kim received 77. 2% of the maximum score, which, as of 2016. Belgiums next best placing has been second which it has achieved twice at the 1978 and 2003 contests, however, it has been last seven times. In 2003, Urban Trad sang in an invented language earning second place with 165 points,2 points fewer than that years winner Turkey, ishtar did the same in 2008, but came 17th in the first semi-final and thus did not qualify for the final. In the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 Belgium participated in the first semi-final on 12 May 2009, however they received just one point which came from Armenia, the 2010 entry for Belgium was Tom Dice, runner-up of the Belgian Flemish version of The X Factor in 2008. Dice was internally selected and announced by VRT on 25 November 2009, Tom Dice finished 1st in the first semi-final, allowing Belgium to participate to the final for the first time since the introduction of the semi-finals
19.
Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
The Netherlands has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 57 times since making its debut as one of the seven countries competing in the very first contest in 1956. It has missed only four contests so far, the preselection process was often done through the Nationaal Songfestival, with the winner qualifying to represent the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest. The Netherlands has won the contest four times, with four victories, the Netherlands ranks in the top 10 most successful Eurovision countries. The countrys first two came in the 1950s, with Corry Brokken in 1957 and Teddy Scholten in 1959. Sandra & Andres finished fourth in 1972 and Mouth & MacNeal were third in 1974, the Netherlands best result of the 1980s was fifth, achieved by both Maggie MacNeal in 1980 and Marcha in 1987. In the 1990s, Ruth Jacott, with sixth place in 1993 and Edsilia Rombley, with fourth in 1998, the Netherlands have finished last in the contest final on four occasions, in 1958,1962,1963 and 1968. They also finished last in the semi-final in 2011, since the semi-finals were introduced in 2004, the Netherlands has reached the final on only four occasions, failing to reach the final for eight years in a row, from 2005–2012. Opting for a selection has fared well for the Netherlands since 2013, when Anouk became the first Dutch entry in nine years to qualify for the final. In 2016, the Netherlands once again qualified for the final, the Netherlands has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest four times, in 1958,1970,1976 and 1980. The first three times were after winning the year, while the 1980 contest was staged in the Netherlands. Similarly, the Netherlands had declined the right to organise the 1960 contest, the Netherlands has missed only four contests in its Eurovision history. The first of these was at the 1985 contest, held in Gothenburg, the contest, held on 4 May conflicted with the Dutch Remembrance of the Dead and as such the Netherlands withdrew. In 1991 the contest was held on 4 May. There was no Dutch participation in the 1995 and 2002 contests, the Netherlands did compete in 2000. But at 22,00 on Saturday 13 May, the broadcast was cancelled because of the Enschede fireworks disaster which happened a few hours before. The points awarded by the Netherlands were taken from the jury vote. Table key NOTE, The full results for the first contest are unknown, the official Eurovision site lists all the other songs as being placed second. Willem van Beusekom provided NOS TV commentary every year from 1987 until 2005, however, on November 7,2005 it was announced that Van Beusekom would quit his role as Dutch commentator saying Its good to step back
20.
Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Switzerland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 57 times since making its debut at the first contest in 1956, missing only four contests, in 1995,1999,2001 and 2003. Switzerland hosted the first contest in 1956, and won it themselves, Switzerland won the contest again in 1988. Lys Assia won the very first contest in Lugano in 1956 with the song Refrain and she returned to place second in 1958. In 1993, Annie Cotton gave the country its eighth top three result, when she placed third, in the 21st century, Switzerland has only once reached the top ten, in 2005 with the girl band Vanilla Ninja finishing eighth. Since the introduction of the round in 2004, Switzerland has failed to qualify for the final nine times. At the 2014 contest, Sebalter gave the country its second best result of the century, Switzerland had been absent from Eurovision four times since their participation began in the first contest. These absences, in 1995,1999,2001 and 2003 were caused by poor results in previous contests that relegated Switzerland from the contest, Switzerland has four official languages, French, German, Italian, and Romansh. For decades, the requirements stated that the song had to be performed in a national language. Out of their 55 appearances in the Contest, Switzerland has sent 52 songs,24 of which were in French,12 in German, nine in Italian, nine in English, both of Switzerlands winning songs have been sung in French. ^ The full results for the first contest in 1956 are unknown, the official Eurovision site lists all the other songs as being placed second. If a country had won the year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition from 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, as of 2016, Switzerlands voting history is as follows, Over the years Switzerland has broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest on three television stations, SRF, RTS and RSI. Table key Points to and from Switzerland eurovisioncovers. co. uk
21.
Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
No other country has been represented as often. France and the United Kingdom come in a second, missing only two contests each. Before German reunification in 1990, it presented as West Germany. Germany has won two contests, in 1982 and 2010, Germany first won the contest in 1982, at the 27th attempt in Harrogate, when Nicole won with the song Ein bisschen Frieden. The second German victory came 28 years later at the 2010 contest in Oslo, Germany have finished second four times and third five times, for a total of eleven top three placements. Katja Ebstein, who finished third in 1970 and 1971, Germany also finished second with Lena Valaitis in 1981 and the group Wind in both 1985 and 1987. The other third places were achieved by Mary Roos in 1972, Mekado in 1994, with one win and four second places, Germany is one of the most successful countries of the 1980s. Germany has finished last on seven occasions, receiving nul points in 1964,1965 and 2015, Germany, along with the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Spain, is one of the Big Five countries that are automatically qualified to the final, regardless of the placing. This is due to being the largest financial contributors to the contest, since 1996, ARD consortium member Norddeutscher Rundfunk has been responsible for Germanys participation in the contest. The Eurovision Song Contest semi-final is broadcast on NDR Fernsehen, and the final is broadcast on Das Erste, although German contestants have had varied levels of success, public interest remains high and the contest is one of the most watched events each year. Between 2010 and 2012, private broadcaster ProSieben worked in partnership with NDR, Germany has often changed the selection process used in order to find the countrys entry for the contest, either a national final or internal selection has been held by the broadcaster at the time. ARD had selected an artist and song to represent them at the Eurovision Song Contest 1996, to be held in Oslo, due to the large number of countries wanting to compete at Eurovision, they determined that only 23 of the 30 countries could compete. Hosts Norway qualified automatically, the other 29 songs went into an audio only pre-qualification round, unfortunately for Germany its entry, Leon with Planet of Blue, failed to earn enough points to progress to the final, finishing 24th. ARD and the EBU were not happy with this, as Germany was the biggest financial contributor at the time and this is the only time that Germany has been absent from the contest. In the 2000s, Germany has been notable for their adoption of musical styles which are not typical of Eurovision, such as country and western, Germany tied for last at the 2008 contest for points, but was awarded 23rd of 25th place when the results were posted. In 2009, ARD held a selection for the first time since 1995 due to lack of interest. Alex Christensen and Oscar Loya were selected to represent Germany at the 2009 contest, however they only managed to receive 35 points, placing 20th of 25 competing countries. In 2010, ARD approached former entrant and songwriter Stefan Raab and it has been said that Raab was approached due to his good record at the contest, finishing 5th in 2000 as well as writing entries in 1998 and 2004, which finished 7th and 8th respectively
22.
Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Denmark has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 45 times since its debut in 1957. Having competed in ten consecutive contests until 1966, Denmark was absent for eleven consecutive contests from 1967-1977, since 1978, they have been absent from only four contests. Denmark has won the contest three times, the Danish qualifying competition for the contest is the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler placed third at the countrys first attempt in 1957, Denmark then won the contest for the first time in 1963 with the song Dansevise performed by Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann. The country would not return to the top five for over twenty years, Hot Eyes then finished third in 1988, as did Birthe Kjær in 1989. In the 1990s, due to performances in the previous years. They did make the top ten three times, with Aud Wilkens fifth place in 1995 being Denmarks only top five result of the decade, the second Danish victory came in 2000, with the Olsen Brothers defying the odds to win with Fly on the Wings of Love. In 2001, as hosts, Denmark finished second with Never Ever Let You Go performed by Rollo & King, in 2002, Malene Mortensen became the first Danish entry to finish last. Denmark were absent from the 2003 contest, in 2005, Copenhagen hosted Congratulations,50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest, an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary. Denmark achieved its best result for nine years at the 2010 contest, a Friend in London then finished fifth in 2011. Denmark won the contest for the time in 2013, with Only Teardrops performed by Emmelie de Forest receiving Denmarks highest ever score with 281 points. Denmark has placed in the top five a total of 14 times and has a score of 65.261 points. Denmark first participated at the Eurovision Song Contest 1957, held in Frankfurt, the country had intended to compete at the first contest in 1956, but had submitted its application past the deadline and was, therefore, not allowed to compete. Denmark was the first Nordic country to take part in the contest, with Sweden, Norway, iceland, however, did not take part until 1986. Denmarks first participants were Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler, who sang the song Skibet skal sejle i nat and their performance was controversial as, at the end of the song, the couple performed an 11-second kiss, which caused outcry in some countries. Nevertheless, the performance achieved a respectable 3rd place, Denmark won the contest for the first time in 1963, when Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann sang Dansevise. When Norway announced its votes, the presenter Katie Boyle could not hear the spokesperson, the final result was valid and the victory went to Denmark. Accordingly, in 1964, the contest was held in Denmark for the first time, after the 1966 contest and a record low 14th place, Denmark withdrew from the contest, as DR´s new head of entertainment Niels Jørgen Kaiser did not view the contest as being quality entertainment
23.
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Malta has never won the contest, although it has twice finished second and twice finished third. Maltas two seconds and two thirds, make it the most successful country not to win the contest, in the last 10 contests, Malta has only once reached the top 10, when Gianluca Bezzina finished eighth in 2013. Together with France, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, the only use of the Maltese language was three lines in the 2000 entry Desire, performed by Claudette Pace. The Maltese broadcasters of the show are the Public Broadcasting Services, all shows are transmitted live on TVM and Radio Malta. Also, along with Croatia and Sweden it was the country to never be relegated, under the previous rules of the contest. If a country had won the year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition, back in 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, ^ Spain originally gave its 12 points to Israel and 10 to Norway. After the broadcast it was announced that Spanish broadcaster wrongly tallied the votes and Germany should have got the top mark -12 points - instead of being snubbed, the mistake was corrected and so Germany was placed 7th over Norway
24.
Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Italy has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 42 times since making its debut at the first contest in 1956. It was one of seven countries that competed at the very first contest. Italy competed at the contest frequently until 1997, after a fourteen-year absence, the country competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. Italy has won the contest twice, in 1958, Domenico Modugno finished third with the song Nel blu, dipinto di blu. Renamed Volare, the became a huge international hit, reaching the US number one spot. Emilio Pericoli also finished third in 1963, before Italy won for the first time in 1964 with Gigliola Cinquetti, Cinquetti returned to the contest in 1974 and finished second with the song Si, losing to ABBA. Italy then finished third in 1975 with Wess and Dori Ghezzi, the countrys best result of the 1980s was Umberto Tozzi and Raf finishing third in 1987. Italys second victory in the contest came in 1990 with Toto Cutugno, other good 1990s results were Mia Martini in 1992 and Jalisse in 1997, who both finished fourth. After 1997, Italy withdrew from the competition, the EBU announced that they would work harder to bring Italy back to the contest in 2010, along with former participants Monaco and Austria, but again Italy did not participate in the contest. Italys return to the contest proved to be successful, with Raphael Gualazzi finishing second, Italy has finished in the top ten in four of the last six contests. In 2015, Il Volo won the televoting receiving votes from all countries, since the introduction of the 50/50 voting system in 2009, this was the first time that the winner of the viewers vote did not win the contest. Italy has withdrawn from the Eurovision Song Contest a number of times, the first withdrawal was in 1981, when RAI stated that interest had diminished in the country. This absence continued through the year, before Italy returned in 1983. Italy again withdrew in 1986 when RAI decided not to enter the contest, from 1994 to 1996 Italy withdrew again, with RAI citing a lack of interest in participating. Italy returned in 1997, before withdrawing again without explanation, none of the Eurovision winning songs were particularly successful in the Italian charts. Despite the Eurovision contests taking place more than a month before the vote, Italian censors refused to allow the contest. The song thus remained censored on most Italian state TV and radio stations for over a month, at the contest in Brighton, Cinquetti finished second, losing to ABBA. Sì went on to be a UK top ten hit, peaking at number eight and it also reached the German top 20
25.
Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Norway has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 55 times since making its debut in 1960 and has only been absent twice since then. In 1970, the country boycotted the contest over disagreements about the voting structure, Norway has won the contest three times. The contest is broadcast in Norway by NRK, which also broadcasts Norways national selection competition, Norways first entrant in the contest in 1960 was Nora Brockstedt, who finished fourth. Åse Kleveland then finished third in 1966 and these would remain Norways only top five results until 1985, when Bobbysocks gave the country its first victory with the song La det swinge. The country achieved two top five results over the next ten years, with both Karoline Krüger in 1988 and Silje Vige in 1993, finishing fifth. Norways second victory came in 1995 with Secret Gardens mainly instrumental, in 1996, Elisabeth Andreassen, who had won the contest as one half of Bobbysocks, returned to finish second. In 2003, Jostein Hasselgård was fourth, Norway won for the third time in 2009, with Alexander Rybaks smash hit Fairytale. The 2009 winning score of 387 points being the highest ever winning total and it also achieved the biggest ever margin of victory. Norway also has the two distinctions of having finished last in the Eurovision final more than any other country. The country has finished last eleven times, failing to score a point four times, since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Norway has finished in the top ten six times. In 2015 Mørland & Debrah Scarlett finished eighth with A Monster Like Me, Norway has a total of 11 top five and 22 top ten results in the contest. If a country had won the year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition from 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, ^ Spain originally gave its 12 points to Israel and 10 to Norway. After the broadcast it was announced that Spanish broadcaster wrongly tallied the votes and Germany should have got the top mark -12 points - instead of being snubbed, the mistake was corrected and so Germany was placed 7th over Norway. The organisation consists of a network of 40 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs across Europe and beyond, and is a non-governmental, non-political, and non-profitable company. In what has become a tradition for the OGAE fan clubs. Melodi Grand Prix Norway in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest Norway in the Eurovision Young Musicians Melodi Grand Prix Points to and from Norway eurovisioncovers. co. uk
26.
Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Sweden has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 56 times since making its debut in 1958, missing only three contests since then. Sweden is one of the most successful competing nations at the Eurovision, with a total of six victories in the contest, Sweden is also the contests most successful country of the 21st century, with two wins from nine top five results. In total, Sweden has achieved 23 top five results in the contest, since 1959, the Swedish entry has been chosen through an annual televised competition, known since 1967 as Melodifestivalen. At the 1997 contest, Sweden was one of the first five countries to adopt televoting, Swedens first entrant in the contest was Alice Babs in 1958, who was placed fourth. This remained the countrys best result until 1966, when Lill Lindfors, Swedens first Eurovision victory was in 1974 with the song Waterloo, performed by ABBA. Thanks to their victory in Brighton, ABBA went on to worldwide success. In the 1980s, Sweden achieved three top three results. After Carola finished third in 1983, the Herreys gave Sweden its second victory in 1984 with Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley, kikki Danielsson then finished third in 1985. Carola returned to the contest in 1991, to give the Swedes their third win with Fångad av en stormvind, charlotte Nilsson gave the country a second win of the decade in 1999, with Take Me to Your Heaven. The 1990s also saw two third-place results, for Jan Johansen in 1995 and One More Time in 1996, in 2010, Anna Bergendahl became the first Swedish entrant to fail to make it to the final, finishing 11th in the semifinal, only five points from qualification. They also finished third in 2011 with Eric Saade and Popular, third in 2014 with Sanna Nielsen and Undo, and fifth with Frans and the song If I Were Sorry in 2016. Sweden has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest six times and is the country to have hosted the event in five different decades. Together with Croatia and Malta it was the country to never be relegated, under the previous rules of the contest. Melodifestivalen is a music competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television. It has chosen the representative for the Eurovision Song Contest since 1959. It is Swedens most popular shows, and it has been estimated that more than 4 million Swedes watch the show annually. Almost every Swedish entry for Eurovision has been selected through Melodifestivalen, only Swedens first entry in 1958, was not selected through Melodifestivalen, having been selected internally by the Swedish broadcaster at the time, Swedish Radio Service. ^ In 2008, Sweden qualified through the back-up jury selection, If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year
27.
Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Finland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 50 times since its debut in 1961. Finland won the contest for the first time in 2006 with Lordis Hard Rock Hallelujah, previously, its best showing was Marion Rung’s song Tom Tom Tom in 1973, which was placed 6th. Finland has finished last in the contest ten times, receiving nul points in 1963,1965 and 1982, since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Finland has failed to reach the final six times. In 2014, the country had its best result for eight years when Softengine finished 11th, in 2015 Finland finished last in Semi Final One with the shortest ever Eurovision entry Aina mun pitää that only lasts 1 minute and 25 seconds by PKN. Before the 2006 victory, Finland was considered by many as the ultimate under-achiever of Eurovision, prior to its triumph, it had placed last a total of eight times, once with nul points after the introduction of the current scoring method. Finlands entry in 1982, Nuku pommiin by Kojo, was one of fifteen songs since the modern scoring system was instituted in 1975 to earn no points. Due to low results, Finland was excluded from the contest in 1995,1997,1999,2001 and 2003, in 2006, Finland won with The band Lordi and its song Hard Rock Hallelujah, an entry different from the mainstream Europop that dominated the competition. The song broke records scoring the highest number of points in Eurovision Song Contest history. The record was broken by Norway in 2009. All of Finlands entries were in English between 1973 and 1976 and again since 2000, both of these periods allowed submissions in any language, two entries,1990 and 2012, were in Swedish, which is an official language in Finland alongside Finnish. All of Finlands other songs have been in Finnish, in voting patterns, Finland has traditionally supported and been supported by the other Nordic countries. In recent years also the Baltic nations, such as Estonia and Latvia have been favoured by Finland, and the other way around. In 2004, Finlands first-place vote went to Sweden, in 2005, it contributed 12 points to Norway, in 2006, it was Russias turn to get the 12 points, but it was Serbia who got their top score in 2007. The first time in Eurovision history that Sweden gave Finland 12 points was in 2006 for Lordis song Hard Rock Hallelujah, in 2007, they repeated this, giving 12 points to Hanna Pakarinen with Leave Me Alone. Finland has also given notably high points to Italy, a country that had not competed in various periods, especially from 1998 to 2010, ^ In 2009, Finland qualified through the back-up jury selection. If a country had won the year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition from 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year
28.
Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Estonia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 22 times since making its debut in 1994. Estonia has won the contest once, in 2001, Estonias first participation in 1994 was not a successful one, coming second last only to Lithuania. The country was relegated from the 1995 contest. From its second entry in 1996, the country entered its best era in the contest, maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linnas fifth place in 1996 was the first top five ranking for a former Soviet country. This made Estonia the first former Soviet country to win the contest, the 2002 contest was held in Tallinn, with Sahlene finishing joint third for the hosts. Estonias total of nine top ten results, is more than any other Baltic country, Estonias record at the contest was a successful one from 1996 to 2002, only failing once to make the top 10. As such the 2002 contest was held in Estonia, in the capital city Tallinn, at the second semi-final of the 2009 contest, Urban Symphony qualified Estonia to the final of the contest for the first time since 2003, receiving 115 points and placing 3rd. The group performed 15th in the final, where it received 129 points, in 2010, Estonia failed to qualify to the final, with the song Siren by Malcolm Lincoln. In 2011, Estonia was represented by Getter Jaani with the song Rockefeller Street and she was the bookmakers pre-contest favorite for victory along with France. She qualified to the final but eventually placed 24th of 25 entries- tying Silvi Vraits 1994 result for Estonias worst placing in the contest final, in 2012, Ott Lepland qualified Estonia to the final with his song Kuula, ending up 4th in the second semi-final. In the final, he equalled Estonias result of 1999 and 2009, together with Urban Symphony in 2009, Kuula gave Estonia its best result in the contest since 2009. ^ Estonia unsuccessfully attempted to participate in 1993, when there was a round for seven countries hoping to make their debut in the contest. The official Eurovision site does not count 1993 in Estonias list of appearances, as of 2016, Estonias voting history is as follows, Points to and from Estonia eurovisioncovers. co. uk
29.
Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Latvia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 17 times since making its debut at the contest in 2000, where the group Brainstorm finished third with the song My Star. Latvia won the contest in 2002, with Marie N and the song I Wanna, Latvia is the second former Soviet country to win the contest. The 2003 contest was held in the Latvian capital Riga, the country achieved its third top 10 result in 2005, when Walters and Kazha finished fifth with The War Is Not Over. Latvia qualified for the final for the first time since 2008 at the 2015 contest with Aminata and her sixth place in the final is Latvias fourth top 10 finish and best result in the contest since 2005. Latvia made its 10th appearance in the final in 2016, Latvia has had seventeen Eurovision entries since its debut. To select the 2017 Latvian Eurovision entry, Spotify data will be included in national Eurovision vote, ^ The song is in English, however, there are some phrases in Latvian. If a country had won the year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition from 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, as of 2016, Latvias voting history is as follows, Points to and from Latvia eurovisioncovers. co. uk
30.
Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Lithuania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 17 times since its debut in 1994, where Ovidijus Vyšniauskas finished last, receiving nul points. Lithuania then withdrew from the contest, not returning until 1999, LT Uniteds sixth place in 2006 with the song We Are the Winners is Lithuanias best result in the contest. The country reached the top ten for a time in 2016. Having been relegated from the 2000 contest the country returned in 2001 with Skamp and You Got Style and they received 35 points, placing 13th. However the following year, Aivaras could only manage to come second last with 12 points, since the semi-finals were introduced Lithuania again came last with Laura and the Lovers and Little by Little. The following year the Lithuanian broadcaster Lietuvos Nacionalinis Radijas ir Televizija sent LT United to the 2006 contest with the football chant-like song We Are the Winners. They took Lithuania to the final for the first time since 2002, coming sixth in the final with 162 points, Lithuanias best placing as of 2016. The following year Lithuania automatically qualified for the final, however 4Fun could not replicate LT Uniteds success, in 2008 Jeronimas Milius failed to reach the final, coming 16th of 19 competing nations in the second semi-final. Lithuania threatened to boycott the 2009 contest if Russia continues to showcase power, the statement was made in reaction to the Russias actions in the 2008 South Ossetia war. Culture Minister Jonas Jucas stated that it was too early to discuss the boycott since spontaneous decisions might aggravate the efforts of diplomats and thus make the situation worse. At the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, Lithuania qualified from the finals and at the end of the voting in the final had received 23 points. LRT announced in December 2009 that, due to a lack of necessary funds, however, in the event that the necessary funds of 300,000 litas would be found the broadcaster announced that they would attempt to continue the countrys participation. Ultimately, private company TEO LT provided the funding and Lithuania participated in Bærum. In 2011 Lithuania participated in the first Semi Final on the 10 May 2011 and after coming 5th, in the final, Lithuania performed 4th and at the end of the voting had received 63 points putting them 19th. ^ Includes two phrases in French, ^ Includes two phrases in French. American Sign Language was also used during the televised performance. If a country had won the year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition from 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year
31.
Slovakia in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Slovakia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest seven times, debuting in 1994. It had attempted to debut in 1993, but did not pass through the qualifying round, in the first three finals that Slovakia participated in, it placed no better than 18th, which it achieved in 1996. Because of its results, it was forced to miss a year after each contest. It did eventually return to the Contest eleven years later, in 2009, Slovakia had planned on entering the contest at the 1993 contest, but with the introduction of many new countries, a preliminary round was held to trim down the number of new entries. Kvalifikacija za Millstreet featured seven countries competing for three places in the final. Slovakia came fourth in the contest, represented by Elán with Amnestia na neveru, Slovakias Eurovision entries in the 1990s werent very successful, finishing 19th, 18th and 21st. After the 1998 contest, STV decided not to again for a number of years. From 1994 to 1998, STV used a selection to select the Slovak entry for the contest. In 2009, Slovakia organised a national final for the first time. A number of heats preceded a grand final, held on March 8,2009 and Kamil Mikulčík and they finished on 18th place out of 19 in semi-final. Slovakia tried again in 2010 contest with Horehronie by Kristina with similar result, despite being the fan, on 18 February 2011, RTVS revealed their choice for Slovakias Eurovision 2011 entry. The song was Im Still Alive and was performed by twin sisters Daniela, Daniela and Veronika Nízlová had some experience at Eurovision before as backing singers and dancers for Tereza Kerndlová, the Czech entry in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. The 2011 entry was the first Slovak entry performed in English, TWiiNS eventually finished 13th in their Semi Final, which meant they did not qualify for the Grand Final. However, they provided the best result for their country in many years, RTVS sent an artist once again to the Contest in 2012, with a song that was selected internally by RTVS. At a press conference on 7 March 2012, the Slovak entry for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest was announced and he performed in the second semi final, that was held on Thursday, May 24,2012. The song did not qualify in the finals and it was later revealed that the song finished in last place with 22 points. On 4 December 2012, RTVS announced its withdrawal from Eurovision Song Contest 2013 and it had also been announced that Slovakia would not return at Eurovision Song Contest 2015, citing financial constraints and an incompatibility between the contest and the programming goals of RTVS. However RTVS returned to the Eurovision Young Dancers in 2015, with RTVS explaining that the return of Slovakia to EYD supported domestic production, RTVS announced on 28 September 2015 that Slovakia would not participate in the 2016 contest
32.
Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Austria has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 49 times since its debut in 1957. The country has won twice, in 1966, with the song Merci Chérie by Udo Jürgens, Austria currently holds the record for longest gap between wins, with 48 years between victories. Austria finished last at its first attempt in the contest in 1957, before Liane Augustin gave the country its first top five result in 1958, having finished sixth in 1964 and fourth in 1965, Udo Jürgens won the contest at his third attempt in 1966. This would be Austrias only top three result of 20th century, the countrys best result over the next 46 years would be fifth place, which it achieved with Milestones in 1972, Waterloo & Robinson in 1976 and Thomas Forstner in 1989. Austria has finished last in the final a total of seven times, the country also finished last in the semi-final in 2012. After a three-year absence, ORF announced on 28 July 2010 that Austria would return to the contest in 2011, because of this, Austria became the first host country to receive nul points. Austria has opted out of participation in several Contests, the first of these was the 1969 Contest, which was staged in Madrid. As Spain was ruled at that time by Francisco Franco, Austria chose to boycott the Contest, the following year, Austria was again absent. This was due to the result in 1969 in which four songs tied for first place. From 1973 to 1975, Austria stayed away as well, the exact reason for this is unclear, however the scoring system in use at one of these Contests - allowing all entrants a guaranteed number of points - may have been a factor. The country was ineligible to compete in 1998 and 2001, as it had not achieved high placings in the five previous years. They returned for the 2007 contest in Helsinki, but came second to last in the semi-final, despite withdrawing, the final of the 2008 contest was screened on ORF. ORF decided not to participate in the 2009 contest, but did broadcast the final as in 2008, the EBU announced that they would work harder to bring Austria back to the contest in 2010, along with former participants Monaco and Italy. It was, however, confirmed that Austria would not participate in the 2010 Contest in Oslo, in July 2010, the chairman of ORF, Alexander Wrabetz, stated that Austria would return for the 2011 contest, due to it being held in its neighbour Germany. In 2011, Austria reached the final for the first time since 2004, ^ Specifically Styrian, a Southern Bavarian dialect spoken in Styria. ^ Specifically Mühlviertlerisch, a Central Bavarian dialect spoken in Upper Austria, ^ While Austria and Germany both finished with no points, Austria is listed as finishing ahead of Germany due to the tiebreaker rule that favours the song performed earliest in the running order. Therefore, Germany finished in 27th place, with Austria in 26th, if a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition, back in 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the finals the following year
33.
Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Slovenia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 22 times since its debut in 1993. Since then, the country has missed two contests, in 1994 and 2000. Slovenias best result in the contest is seventh place, both in 1995 with Darja Švajger and 2001 with Nuša Derenda, the countrys only other top ten result being a tenth-place finish for Tanja Ribič in 1997. Since the introduction of the round in 2004, Slovenia has failed to reach the final on nine occasions. Slovenia had previously represented at the contest as Yugoslavia between 1961 and 1991. Four of the 27 entries were from Slovene artists, the Slovene national final to select their entry is EMA, broadcast, along with Eurovision, by Radiotelevizija Slovenija. Table key NOTE, If a country had won the previous year, in addition from 2004–2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the countries who placed 11th and 12th were advanced to the following years grand final along with the rest of the top ten countries
34.
Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Hungary has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 14 times since making its debut in 1994. Hungary attempted to participate in 1993 but failed to qualify from a qualifying competition set up for seven former eastern bloc countries. Hungarys first contest in 1994 remains its most successful, with Friderika Bayer finishing in fourth place, Hungary would not return to the top ten for 13 years, until Magdi Rúzsa finished ninth in 2007. This was followed in 2014 by András Kállay-Saunders, who gave Hungary its fourth top ten placement and best result since 1994, when he finished fifth. The countrys first entry would have been Andrea Szuláks in 1993 but a round was installed just for former Eastern Bloc countries. The first real participation was of Friderika Bayer in 1994, after three rounds of voting the Hungarian entry had taken the top marks each time and was in contention to win. However, as the competition progressed it attracted fewer votes, though it ended up in a credible fourth place. This made Hungary the only debuting nation to lead the voting, the 1995 entry was not as successful, garnering only 3 points, narrowly beating last placed Germany. In 1996 Hungary suffered another qualification lost when Gjon Delhusas song didnt make it through the pre-qualification round, Hungary began a hiatus from the competition after the 1998 contest, returning in 2005 when they reached a 12th place in the final with NOX. Hungary however announced not to again in 2006, although it returned to the contest in 2007 with Magdi Rúzsa. She came 9th in Helsinki with her song Unsubstantial Blues, the first Hungarian entry in English, after coming last in the semi-final in the 2008 contest, Magyar Televízió, the Hungarian broadcaster, confirmed Hungarys participation at the 2009 contest in Russia. Ádok eventually finished 15th in the second semi-final, failing to qualify Hungary to the final for the second time. On 27 December 2010, it was confirmed that MTV had agreed to return to the 2011 edition, on 22 May 2011, MTV confirmed their 2012 participation. In 2013, Hungary made it to the Top 10, when ByeAlex reached the 10th place with Kedvesem. They achieved even more success in 2014, when András Kállay-Saunders reached the 5th place with his song Running, achieving the best result Hungary has had since their first participation in 1994. Hungary is one of two countries to have unsuccessfully attempted to participate in both 1993 and 1996. The official Eurovision site does not count either year in Hungarys list of appearances, as of 2016, Hungarys voting history is as follows, Composer Award Points to and from Hungary eurovisioncovers. co. uk
35.
Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Croatia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 22 times since making its debut at the 1993 contest. Between 1993 and 2011, the Croatian entrant was selected at the Dora pop festival, Croatias best result in the contest is fourth-place finishes in 1996 and 1999. Croatia first reached the top ten in 1995, when Magazin & Lidija Horvat-Dunjko finished sixth and this would be the first of six top ten results in seven years. Maja Blagdan was fourth in 1996, Danijela Martinović was fifth in 1998, Doris Dragović was fourth in 1999, Goran Karan was ninth in 2000, since then, Croatia has failed to reach the top ten. Since the introduction of the round in 2004, Croatia has failed to reach the final on five occasions. Croatia then withdrew from the contest in 2014 and 2015, on its return in 2016, Croatia reached the final for the first time in seven years. Croatia participated at Eurovision ten times as part of Yugoslavia, in 1963,1968,1969,1971,1972,1986,1987,1988,1989 and 1990. Apart from being the most successful Yugoslav republic in the contest, it gave the socialist republic its only win, Rock Me, sung by Riva in 1989, the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 was held in Zagreb as a result. After the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1991, the Croatian national public broadcaster Croatian Radiotelevision had organised a festival to select a Croatian representative for the 1992 Contest. If HRT had been a member of the EBU in time for the contest, Croatias first entry as an independent state was in 1993 with the band Put, performing Dont Ever Cry which was, despite the English title, also partially performed in Croatian. The song came third in the Qualification for Millstreet, which allowed their participation in the 1993 contest, Croatias best position, as of 2016, has been with Maja Blagdans 1996 entry Sveta ljubav and Doris Dragovićs 1999 entry Marija Magdalena. Along with Malta and Cyprus and Portugal, Croatia was never relegated in the 1990s, the last time Croatia qualified for the grand final was in 2009. However, on 5 May 2015, HRT announced that it wont broadcast the 2015 contest and it was the first time since 1992 for HRT to not broadcast the contest. On 26 November 2015, it was announced that Croatia would return to the contest in 2016, nina Kraljić with the song Lighthouse qualified to the final, making it that Croatia qualified for the first time since 2009. After the successful return in 2016, Croatian national broadcaster Croatian Radiotelevision confirmed on 17 September 2016 that they would participate in 2017. Yugoslavian entries in 1963,1968,1969,1971,1972,1986,1987,1988,1989 and 1990 are Croatian entries that competed for Yugoslavia, ^ Spain originally gave its 12 points to Israel and 10 to Norway. After the broadcast it was announced that Spanish broadcaster wrongly tallied the votes and Germany should have got the top mark -12 points - instead of being snubbed, the mistake was corrected and so Germany was placed 7th over Norway. ^ In 2009, Croatia qualified through the back-up jury selection, if a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year
36.
Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Montenegro debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007. Previously it participated as part of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro, the 2005 entrants from Serbia and Montenegro, No Name, were from Montenegro, as were the 1983 and 1984 entrants for Yugoslavia. Since Montenegro became an independent state on 21 May 2006, the nation has taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest, the country made its solo debut in the 2007 contest and so far has managed mediocre results with qualifying twice for the grand final. It contributed for some good results for Ex-Yugoslavia and Serbia. 2009 saw the third best result to date finishing 11th place in the first semi-final. In November 2009 RTCG announced that Montenegro would withdraw from the 2010 contest, RTCG submitted an application for the 2011 contest, which was held in Düsseldorf, Germany. For the next years after 2007, Montenegro have been starting the first semi-final for three years in a row until 2013 when they were allocated to the half of the first semi-final. In 2014, Montenegro qualified for the Grand Final for the first time in its history with Sergej Ćetkovićs Moj svijet, in 2015, Montenegro qualified for the Grand Final for the second time with Knez who performed song Adio, composed by Zeljko Joksimovic. Song Adio has two versions, on English and French language, Knez managed their best result ever, finishing in the 13th place. ^ Contains some phrases in Montenegrin and German, as of 20163, Montenegros voting history is as follows,3. Montenegro in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest Points to and from Montenegro eurovisioncovers. co. uk
37.
Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Serbia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest nine times since making its debut in 2007. Serbia previously participated as part of Yugoslavia and as Serbia and Montenegro, Serbia won the contest on its debut as an Independent country in 2007, with Marija Šerifović and the song Molitva. The countrys next best result is Željko Joksimovićs third place in 2012, Serbia also reached the top ten in 2008 and 2015. In 1989 Yugoslavia won the Eurovision Song Contest for the time in their history, with Rock Me, sung in Croatian. Serbias debut entry as an independent nation, the ballad Molitva by Marija Šerifović, won the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, Serbia became the first country that won with debut entry after Switzerlands win at the first edition. After this, they were the host of the 2008 contest in the Serbian capital of Belgrade, the second Serbian entry, performed in Belgrade was written by past entrant for Serbia as part of Serbia and Montenegro and contest host Željko Joksimović. The song Oro, a ballad, performed by Jelena Tomašević came 6th. In 2009, Serbia selected Marko Kon and Milaan to represent them in the second semi-final on 14 May, the duo failed to qualify for the final for the first time in Serbias history in the contest. In 2010, Milan Stanković was selected to represent the country in the contest with Ovo je Balkan, a song with ethno elements. It qualified for the final and in the end achieved 13th place with 72 points, in 2011, Nina was selected with her 60s inspired song, Čaroban. She was accompanied with three singers who would be dancing throughout the performance. In the semi-finals She performed 6th and qualified for the final, in the final, she performed 24th and achieved 14th place. Željko Joksimović represented Serbia in 2012 in Azerbaijan, Baku with the song Nije ljubav stvar, on the second semi-finals he took second place, while he finished third in the final, below second-placed Russia and the winner, Sweden. Moje 3 represented Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö with the song Ljubav je svuda and they would finish 11th in the first semi-final, therefore not qualifying for the final. This was the time that Serbia did not qualify for the final. In April 2014, Serbia announced that they will broadcast all three shows, in addition, they said that it is likely to return at 2015 and that they will probably hold a national selection to find their representative. On 26 September 2014, it was reported that Serbia had decided to return to the 2015 contest to be held in Austrian capital, on 15 February 2015 Serbia chose their own representative in emission Odbrojavanje za Beč. Odbrojavanje za Beč is the national final organised by RTS in order to select the Serbian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, the selection featured three songs composed by Vladimir Graić, the composer of Serbias winning entry Molitva in 2007
38.
Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Albania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 13 times since its debut in 2004. In 2004, Albanias first entry at Eurovision, Anjeza Shahini and this remained the countrys best result in the contest until 2012, when Rona Nishliu placed fifth. RTSH first showed interest in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003, however three more countries also applied to enter the contest for the first, and Albania was not allowed to compete in the contest, having been forced to wait another year before debuting. The first Albanian entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest was decided through the long-standing Albanian song contest, the winner of Festivali I Këngës 42 would go on to represent Albania in its first Eurovision Song Contest. The winner was Anjeza Shahini with the song Imazhi yt and this was translated into English, and performed at Eurovision as The Image of You. She qualified for the final, coming 4th, and received 106 points in the final and this placing allowed Albania to skip the semi-final of the 2005 contest, automatically qualifying for the final. The Albanian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was again selected through Festivali I Këngës, the winner of Festivali I Këngës 43 was Ledina Çelo with Nesër shkoj, translated as Tomorrow I Go in English. Çelo could not replicate Shahinis 7th place, receiving only 53 points, in the semi-final of the 2006 contest he received 58 points, placing 14th of 23 in his semi-final and failing to qualify for the final. The 2007 entry was Frederik Ndoci with Hear My Plea, performed at Festivali I Këngës 45 as Balada e gurit, the song was performed at Eurovision in both English and Albanian. In the semi-final of the 2007 contest he received 49 points, placing 17th of 28 in his semi-final, the winner of Festivali I Këngës 46 was Zemrën e lamë peng by Olta Boka. Press reactions in Albania were not happy with the decision, despite this, Olta Bokas victory remained, and she sang for Albania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia. At the contest she qualified Albania for the final, placing 9th in a field of 19 in the second semi-final, Albania was the first country to select both their artist and publicly present their song for Eurovision 2009. The winner was selected by Festivali I Këngës. The winner of Festivali I Këngës 47 was Kejsi Tola with the song Më merr në ëndërr, the song was performed in English as Carry Me in Your Dreams. Albania finished 7th out of 19 in the 2nd semifinal with 73 points, in the final, where both jury and televoting were used, Albania scored 48 points, finishing 17th in a field of 25. However, had only televoting been used Albania would have placed 11th in the contest, conversely if only jury voting had been used Albania would have placed 23rd. The winner of Festivali I Këngës 48 was decided on 27 December and she represented Albania at Eurovision 2010 in Oslo with the song Nuk mundem pa ty. The song is a typical composition, and has been compared to Christina Aguileras Keeps Gettin Better
39.
Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Macedonia, presented in the contest as Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 16 times since its official debut in 1998. The country had attempted to participate in 1996, but failed to qualify from the qualifying round. Macedonia is one of the most unsuccessful countries in the contest, Macedonias best result in the contest is Elena Risteskas 12th place finish in 2006. Macedonia has failed to qualify from the round in eight of the last nine contests, the exception being Kaliopi. Macedonias first appearance in the contest was in 1998, the countrys best result was in 2006, when Elena Risteska sang Ninanajna in Athens, Greece and came 12th. Macedonia is the country to have qualified from every semi-final from 2004 to 2007. Since then, only in 2012 Macedonia have made the final, also, Macedonian composers wrote songs for candidates from other parts of Yugoslavia. However, the Macedonian entries never managed to win, and the SR Macedonia was the federal state never to send a Yugoslav entry to the Eurovision Song Contest. ^ Macedonia unsuccessfully attempted to participate in 1996, when there was an audio-only pre-qualifying round for all countries, the official Eurovision site does not count 1996 in Macedonias list of appearances. Macedonia did not progress to the final in either year, in 2008 Sweden beat Macedonia to the final, if a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. The other reason being that back in 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. co. uk Eurovision Macedonia
40.
Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Greece has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 37 times since its debut in 1974, missing six contests in that time. Greece won for the first time in 2005 with My Number One, the national broadcaster, Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi broadcast the event each year and organised the process for the selection of the Greek entry. Greece has never finished last in the contest, in the 21st century, Greece has been more successful, with ten top-ten results, including third-place finishes for Antique in 2001, Sakis Rouvas in 2004 and Kalomira in 2008. Greece was disqualified from the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 after it was revealed that Themis Adamantidis was to sing Sarantapente Kopelies, a previously released song. A known Greek folk song had been revised for the competition, Greece was forced to pay a fine, and was allowed to return the following year. Had Adamantidis been allowed to perform Sarantapente Kopelies, he would have appeared second at Harrogate, after returning in 1983, ERT decided that all of the possible songs were of low quality and decided not to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984. Had she performed, she would have appeared eighteenth and she would have performed the song Wagon-lit, the following year ERT announced that it would not return at the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 due to financial reasons. The song also made Greece the first country not a member of Big Four to win the contest without going through a semifinal. Before Greeces win, the highest score was third place, achieved by duo Antique in 2001 with Die for You and then again by Sakis Rouvas in 2004 with Shake It. Greeces least successful result was at 20th place in 1998 with the song Mia Krifi Evesthisia by Thalassa, with 12 points, all from Cyprus, riskyKidd, with 35 points, but this time Cyprus was out of the contest. In 2006, the 51st Eurovision Song Contest was held in Athens, Greece, the two hosts were popular singer, and former contestant, Sakis Rouvas and Greek American presenter Maria Menounos. The singer representing Greece in their own country was popular Greek Cypriot artist Anna Vissi, for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, ERT was able to secure a high-profile artist once again and planned a national final to choose the song. Greece has been one of the most successful countries in the Eurovision Song Contest in the 21st century, including ninth in 2006, seventh in 2007, third in 2008, seventh in 2009, eighth in 2010 and seventh in 2011. In 2014, Greece finished in 20th place, which, along with 1998, is the countries worst result in the contest, Greece was one of only three countries to have never failed to qualify from the semifinals since their 2004 introduction. In addition, Greece also qualified from the 1996 audio-only pre-qualifying round, in 2015, Greece failed to reach the top-ten for the third time in four years, finishing 19th. Since 2013, the music channel MAD produces the Greek national final, for 2016, ERT selected the Eurovision entry internally. They selected the band Argo with the song Utopian Land For the first time since the semi-finals were introduced in 2004 and they finished 16th in the first semi-final. Greece is famous for, especially in recent years, always giving twelve points to Cyprus and this is one of many examples of the bloc voting seen in contest which also occurs between Iberian, Balkan, Scandinavian, ex-Soviet and Baltic countries
41.
Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Bulgaria has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 10 times since making its debut at the 2005 contest in Kiev. The countrys best result is a finish for Poli Genova at the 2016 contest. Prior to 2016, Bulgarias only entry to reach the final was Elitsa & Stoyan, Bulgaria first competed at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, represented by the jazz-inspired band Kaffe with their song Lorraine. Receiving only 49 points, they placed 19th in the semi-final and they were succeeded by Mariana Popova with Let Me Cry, however she also failed to qualify for the final, coming 17th with 36 points in the semi-final. Bulgarias first qualification for the final came in 2007 when Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankoulov performed the song Water and this was the first Bulgarian language song to compete in the contest, placing 6th in the semi-final with 146 points. Todorova and Yankulov repeated their song in the final and received 157 points, in previous years, if a country placed in the top 10 countries in the final they automatically qualified to the final of the next contest. Had this rule remained for the 2008 contest, Bulgaria would have qualified for the final. As such, Bulgaria were forced to compete in one of the two semi-finals of the 2008 contest in Serbia, at the 2008 contest, Bulgaria were represented by Deep Zone & Balthazar with the song DJ, Take Me Away. They, however, could not repeat Todorova and Yankulovs result and received only 56 points, Bulgaria competed in the 2009 contest in Russia. Bulgaria was the first country to begin their selection for the fifth Bulgarian entry to Eurovision, with Be A Star, the winner was Krassimir Avramov with his Popera song Illusion. It failed to qualify for the final in Moscow coming 16th out of 18 participants in the first semifinal, in October 2009, BNT announced that Miroslav Kostadinov would represent Bulgaria at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo, Norway. He sang the song Angel si ti and it was the first song since 2007 to be sung in Bulgarian. However, for the third year, Bulgarias entry failed to qualify for the final. In 2011, Bulgaria was represented by Poli Genova, and the entry was sung in Bulgarian for the third consecutive year. In that year she competed with 18 more singers in the final of EuroBGvision and this was her fourth time in which she took part in the EuroBGvision and her first win. The singer Sofi Marinova represented Bulgaria in the 2012 Eurovision contest in Baku with a song called Love Unlimited and her song was mainly in Bulgarian but it also contains the phrase I Love You in 12 other languages including Turkish, Greek, Spanish, French and Serbian and others. In 2013, Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov were chosen through a selection to represent Bulgaria for a second time. Their song, Samo shampioni, placed sixth in the second semifinals televoting results, the duo placed twelfth, with 45 points, thereby excluding Bulgaria from the final yet again
42.
Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Romania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 17 times, debuting in the 1994 contest. With a total of five top 10 placements, their best results have been third in 2005 with Luminița Anghel & Sistem, fourth in 2006 with Mihai Trăistariu, and third in 2010 with Paula Seling & Ovi. This in turn disqualified their 2016 entry, Moment of Silence sung by Ovidiu Anton, however, it is now officially resolved and they are returning to Eurovision in 2017. In 1994 Romania debuted in Ireland by sending Dan Bittman as the countrys first contestant with the song Dincolo de nori, by failing to receive a high place in the final, Romania was not allowed to participate in 1995, and had to wait until 1996. In 1996 Romania selected Monica Anghel and Sincron for the contest in Oslo, Norway, because of the low results in the previous years, Romania did not enter for the 1997 contest. In 2000 Romania again returned to the contest held in Stockholm, Sweden, the band did not succeed to get a high place, so yet again Romania would have to miss the 2001 contest held in Denmark. They did manage to bring the first „12 points” for the country, after missing the 2001 contest, Romania returned to the contest held in Tallinn, Estonia in 2002. The country finally received their first top 10 place since their debut, Romania ended on 9th place with 71 points, of which 12 from two countries, Macedonia and Russia. The success from last year continued, witnessing Romania reach another top 10 place in Riga, Nicola and her song Dont Break My Heart. The song was on the 10th place by receiving a total of 73 points, once again, they received 12 points from Russia. In 2004, Romania sent Sanda to compete for the country with the song I Admit, yet they received ten points from Spain. Romania was on 1st place in the semi-final with 235 points, more points than those received by winning Greece in the final. Up to date, Romanias best result is third. They got twelve points from Moldova and Spain solely, but received at least one point from every voting nation that year but the Netherlands, yet they received a couplet of twelve points among others. The song wasnt a failure, as it won the Marcel Bezençon composer award and it received points from Moldova. Gheorghe only took top points from Moldova, which awarded her 12 points, Spain, which usually gave Romania their twelve points only rewarded them with seven points. They got the twelve points from Moldova,10 points from Spain, Portugal, Israel, Norway and Sweden and eight points from the United Kingdom, Denmark. During the National Selection, an act was held after the midnight passed. Niamh Kavanagh, Chiara Siracusa, Paula Seling and Ovi sang together Happy New Year, the winner was the band Hotel FM with the song Change
43.
Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Moldova has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 12 times, debuting in 2005. The debut year remains the countrys most successful result, with Zdob şi Zdub finishing sixth, the countrys only other top ten result was in 2007, when Natalia Barbu finished tenth. Moldova has reached the final eight out of twelve times, failing to get through in 2008,2014,2015 and 2016. Following the poor result in the 2006 contest, the Moldovan broadcaster, Teleradio-Moldova announced that it would withdraw from participation, however, in response to public pressure TRM filed the preliminary documents to compete and sent Natalia Barbu with song Fight. In 2008 Moldova, for the first time in 4 years of participating, failed to make the Final, their number, A Century of Love. In 2010 a saxophonist Sergey Stepanov from group SunStroke Project and Olia Tira has become internet phenomenon because of his 30-second saxophone solo, in 2011 Zdob şi Zdub represented Moldova for a second time in the contest, with the song So Lucky placing 12th in the final. This was the time that Moldova ended up 10th in the semifinal. In 2012, Pasha Parfeny represented Moldova, with the song Lăutar, placing 5th in the Semi Final, table key NOTE, If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. The other reason being that back in 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, as of 2016, Moldovas voting history is as follows, Moldova in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest Moldova-Gagauzia in the Türkvizyon Song Contest Points to and from Moldova eurovisioncovers. co. uk
44.
Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Ukraine has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 13 times since making its debut in 2003, winning twice. Ukraines first victory came in 2004 with Wild Dances by Ruslana, the 2005 contest was then held in the countrys capital, Kyiv. Its second victory at the 2016 contest with the song 1944 by Jamala, Ukraine made its debut in 2003, when Oleksandr Ponomaryov finished 14th. Ukraine won the contest at the attempt in 2004, when Ruslana won with the song Wild Dances, defeating second-placed Serbia. On 19 September 2014, state broadcaster NTU announced that it would sit out the 2015 Contest because of difficulties in relation to the ongoing Ukrainian crisis. However, Ukraine broadcast the contest despite not taking part, on 23 May 2015, Ukrainian Broadcaster NTU pledged to bring Ukraine back to the contest for 2016. On 16 September 2015, it was announced that Ukraine would return to the contest in 2016, on its return to the contest in 2016, Ukraine became the first Eastern European country to win the contest twice, when Jamala won with her song 1944. Since the introduction of the round in 2004, Ukraine has never failed to qualify for the final when they have participated. The country has a score of 143 points per contest,233 if including the semi-finals. If a country had won the year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year
45.
Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Belarus has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 13 times since making its debut in 2004. Dmitry Koldun became the countrys first entrant to reach the final at the 2007 contest and this remains Belarus only top ten placement. Belarus also qualified for the final in 2010,2013 and 2014, Belarus entered the contest in the same year that semi-finals began to be used to determine who would compete in the final. Belarus has so far managed to qualify for the four times, in 2007 with Dmitry Koldun, in 2010 with band 3+2, in 2013 with Alyona Lanskaya. After the 2009 edition, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, said that it was necessary to replace the current working team behind Belarus Eurovision entry. Lukashenko pointed out his frustrations over divisions within the team, Alexander Rybak, the winner of the 2009 contest representing Norway, expressed an interest in composing an entry for his birth country Belarus. An attempt to compose a song for Belarus materialized in 2015, despite being the favourite to win the national final that year, it only got a 4th place. The member of OGAE International Network
46.
Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest
–
Georgia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest nine times, debuting at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. On 27 October 2006, Georgia, confirmed that they wished to debut at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, at the contest, Georgia managed to progress from the semi-final, but only came 12th in the final. Georgia appeared for its time in the contest for 2008. It had slightly better luck than in 2007, progressing from the semi-final, due to the 2008 South Ossetia war, it had been debated by Georgian Public Broadcaster whether Georgia would be present at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow. GPB chairman stated that it would not be unreasonable to withdraw, after winning the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2008, and getting the maximum 12 points from Russia they were encouraged to participate again in 2009. After a national final was held on 18 February 2009 the selected entry for Georgia was decided to be Stefane & 3G with their 70s-inspired song We Dont Wanna Put In. However the song gained controversy due to the lyrics of the song, which included perceived political references to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, which GPB denied. Nevertheless, the EBU banned the song from competing due to its lyrics, GPB claimed that the EBUs rejection of the song was due to political pressure exerted by Russia, and withdrew again from the contest on 11 March. Georgia returned to the Contest in 2010, after a one-year gap, Sopho sang the song Shine at the Contest, written by Hanne Sørvaag, Harry Sommerdahl and Christian Leuzzi. Georgia competed in the second semi-final of the contest on 27 May, performing in the 16th slot, Georgia came 9th in the final, with 136 points, achieving their best place so far. In 2011, Georgia sent the rock band Eldrine to the contest in Düsseldorf and they managed to equal Sopho Nizharadzes 9th place of the year before. In 2012, Georgia sent Anri Jokhadze to the contest in Baku, Azerbaijan with the song Im a Joker, on 24 May 2012, he became the first Georgian representative to fail to reach the Eurovision Song Contest final. In 2013, Georgia selected its entry internally, Sopho Gelovani & Nodiko Tatishvili was the first duo to represent Georgia in Eurovision. The song was produced by 2012s winning composer Thomas G, Son, in the second semi-final Georgia qualified in 10th, and in the final Georgia came in 15th place with 50 points. In 2014, Georgia selected jazz fusion band The Shin alongside vocalist Mariko Ebralidze to the contest in Copenhagen and their song, Three Minutes to Earth, was panned by critics and placed last in the second semi-final. This is the worst Georgian result to date, in 2015, Georgia held a national final for the first time since 2012. Nina Sublatti and her song Warrior were chosen to represent Georgia in the contest and it qualified from the first semi-final. Nina Sublatti eventually reached an 11th place in the grand final, on December 15,2015, Georgia internally selected Nika Kocharov & Young Georgian Lolitaz to represent Georgia in the 2016 contest They finished 9th in semi-final and 20th in the grand final
